Bond of Shadows
by KeshaRocks
Summary: Libby and Diamond share a tenacious bond that is put to the test as Libby tries to expose a truth that could change the hearts of those she loves. Meanwhile Diamond struggles to retain her faction's reputation as a rival assassination team settles over Skyrim. Fractured by loss and betrayal, they will face the impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.
1. Chapter 1

**Full Summary ~ Libby is in the Thieves Guild. Diamond is in the Dark Brotherhood. The girls share a tenacious bond that is put to the test as Libby tries to expose an explosive truth that could change the hearts of those she loves. Meanwhile Diamond struggles to retain her faction's reputation as a rival assassination team beings to settle over Skyrim. Fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and betrayal, they will face the impossible choices about courage, allegiance, sacrifice, and love.**

* * *

Fog clouds the city as the cold morning air mixes with the soon to be heat of the dawn. The deep blue darkness is lightening, evidence that the dawn was doing its best to push back the curtain of night. The city of Helgen pierces through the mist; its great brick walls and gates stand tall with Imperial Soldiers, including the proud General Tullius.

Had she'd thought twice of the security here, Diamond would've packed along extra weaponry and poisons. Not that she'd ever need them since they were obviously here for other and probably more important reasons.

"Dia," Libby calls. "come on."

Diamond follows Libby through a crevice in the wall that leads them behind the cabins and cottages of the city.

Libby is Diamond's closest friend, and exceptionally skilled in the art of stealth. She has thick black hair – and when not in a mess of curls – stays secures with a hairband and in her intricate trademark braid. She has almond-shaped hazel eyes, a thin nose and a heart-shaped face. Even with the Guild members not the complimenting type, she still has a generous does of vanity. Her full name was Libitania, which means death. Yet ironically she's in the Guild, and proclaimed the best thief at the age of nineteen.

The sun peeks over the horizon and Diamond does her best to stick close and mimic Libby's movements to stay hidden in the shadows. She had joined Libby on this mission with Libby since she had nothing else to do. And with her contracts with Nazir still finished, she couldn't think of anything better to do. It still intrigues her to this day how a member of the Thieves Guild is still somehow better than a member of the Dark Brotherhood. Of course, Libby is three years older than Diamond; and she's had more experience in the years that's passed. As she follows, Diamond can see a few members of the Thalmor.

The Thalmor are also referred to as High Elves, and are allied with the Imperials thanks to the singing of the White Gold Concorduct. They possess astound magic abilities and are often accused of capturing Nords who still worship Talos.

Diamond follows Libby as they sneak their way behind the houses. The townspeople seem to be watching something. Peeking out through an alleyway, Diamond sees carriages, Imperial soldiers in the driver's seat, taking loads of prisoners up to the execution block.

"Hey Libby, see that?" Dia points a dainty finger through a gathering of flowers.

Libby stops and peeks with her. "Yeah. Man, this can't be good. But come on."

Libby pats Diamond's shoulder and the two continue towards the house that Libby was assigned a burglary job for Vex. She needed to steal a golden horn without getting noticed, or killing anyone who lies there or she forfeits the payment.

With the townspeople busy, it wasn't that hard to sneak up the front porch. Still, they keep to their toggle crouch positions to remain unnoticed. Libby skillfully picks the lock and Dia hears the tumbler click.

"You want to join me?" She asks.

"Nah," Dia declines. "I'll just stay out here."

She removes her mystic mask, which usually has a glowing aura around it; and pulls back her hood, revealing her pale, sandy hair with pink dyed tips. She keeps it in her usual ponytail, pulled out of her face, revealing her a dark blue eyes; a dreaming, sleeping waiting color.

"I want to watch the executions." She says.

"You Dark Brotherhood members are seriously messed up." Libby says before she slips inside without as much as a _wisp. _

Diamond turns and rests her forearms on the banister of the porch of the house. The old wood creaks and the smell of fire smoke and herbs wafts against her nose. She has to do a double take, but she swears she sees Ulfric Stormcloak, the Jarl of Windhelm. General Tullius is talking to him about how a hero doesn't use the power of the Voice to murder his High King. Since he has a cloth covering his mouth, Ulfric can only reply with muffled grunts.

Diamond leans forward in anticipation, intertwining her fingers.

Inside, Libby doesn't bother to try and hide since most of the crowd is outside for the executions. She peeks her head inside the bedrooms and steps into the living area. Over on the far wall was a bookshelf with the item she needed. She walks up and takes the item, folding it over in her fingers to examine the horn.

As she tucks it carefully away in her pocket, she hears a creak in the wood and instantly whirls around to find nothing. Libby sighs and shrugs to examine the rest of the house. She browses through the bedroom trunks and finds a strongbox on the nightstand.

Only when she reenters the living room does something prickle her spine. She whirls around again, snatching her dagger and comes face-to-face with a young woman in a belted tunic.

Her hands a callus and her tunic has mud splashed along the hems. She's a farmer. The expression on her face says she recognizes Libby, or at least her armor. She opens her mouth to call for help.

Without hesitation, Libby punches her straight in the jaw. The woman collapses and Libby catches her in her arms. She lugs the body over to the bed, where she positions the legs and arms to simulate she's sleeping. But as Libby turns, a young girl stands behind her. Not waiting for her voice to sound, Libby pushes past her and barrels through the front door; nearly bumping into Diamond.

"What the heck -!" Diamond says, when a child's scream overpowers her.

"Stop her!" the child shrieks.

The girl's cry captures the attention of the prisoners and guards. Diamond swears under her breath and charges after Libby. The Co-Captain of the Imperial Army calls to the archers to ready their bows and some of the city's guards draw their swords.

With another one behind her, Libby sprints forward and pushes off her toes. Her hands grab the one guard by the shoulders as the other two come up behind her. She twists harshly so that his arms flail, slapping the other two, making them stagger. One pushes up and charges for Libby, and she flips over him, kicking its legs out from under him.

Libby spins the blades of her dagger out, snarling. One decides to strike, and Libby kicks her leg up, nailing its jaw, and when one goes to slash her with his sword, she grabs its wrist and flips it over her back.

One guard manages to grab Libby from behind while they charge towards her. Libby kicks both her legs to the sides and wrenches herself free, then spinning and kicking him in the head.

As two more guards charge for her, a wickedly sharp point pierces the side of their neck and ruptures their windpipe. They collapses. People scream and gasp as Diamond, wearing her mask, leaps in front of Libby with more daggers gripped between her fingers.

A great cry rose up around. Diamond loves this part. She draws her daggers and faces the guards. She and Libby stand back to back – Libby with her hood over her head – and face the guards.

"We'll give one last chance to surrender." The Imperial Co-Captain says.

In answer, Libby draws a sword.

"Suit yourself. Archers!"

Two of them aim arrows at Libby while Diamond glances over her shoulder while trying to eye the guards in front of her. The execution has halted as they watch the scene. Of course the prisoners could escape with the distraction, but they seem to be, interested.

Libby readies her sword as the archers pull back their strings. They each fire unison, but Libby either slices or blocks their arrows with her blade. Her blade whistles and chimes as the arrow tips ricochet off. Diamond smiles and barrels forward. She runs to the side, hurling dagger after dagger to keep the guards' attention. A couple glanced off their mail, another ricocheted off the flat edge of a blade, but one sank deep into the flesh of a soldier's thigh. He swears.

"Hey!" Diamond shouts. "Language, please. You're in the presence of a lady!"

Two more guards rush closer. Diamond dodges and rolls, her lithe body narrowly avoiding the swings of the guards' swords. Once she was on the far side of the town, near the marketplace, she turns and sprints, rolling past the two in waiting and shoots a dagger into another one's knee. Down on the other, clutching his wound, he only has time enough to look up and curse before Diamond stabs a dagger in his eye. She yanks it out as she passes, wincing at the eyeball lodged halfway up the slender blade.

Libby sprints past citizens who open a way for her, kicking, blocking and leaping past guards as she makes her way to the main gate. Dia loved this duel-battle; they're a well-oiled duel-fighting machine. Diamond follows Libby along the rooftops as she eyes Libby carefully.

When they reach the main gate, Diamond leaps into the air and spins, her hands a blur as dagger fly. Two guards crossed their arms to block their faces, but Diamond had anticipated such a basic defense. Sharp points dug into their legs, hands, and feet. Blood poured across the cobblestone.

"Let's move!" Libby calls.

Diamond blows the wounded soldiers a kiss and leaps down next to Libby, when suddenly, a roar echoes through the sky that somehow chills Diamond's spine. She doesn't scare easily, but something about that seemed, ominous. So raw and primal iced with fury. Diamond hears General Tullius yell, "What in the name of Oblivion is that?!"

"It's in the clouds!" shouts an Imperial Soldier.

Diamond and Libby's head whips around to see the glistening black length of a dragon land on the tower by the wall.

"Dragon!" shouts a Stormcloak, and the soldiers draw their swords.

The giant lizard shouts, but no fire comes, just a great pound of force that hurled toward the girls, knocking them to their knees. Citizens begin to panic. Knocking one another down, gentlemen half-dragging their women, they race past the girls. No longer concerned by them but by the bigger threat. Several citizens break free of the frightened, milling pack at the edge of the gates and sprint toward the safety of the towers.

The dragon surpasses the height of the walls of Helgen, its enormous wings nearly envelop the tower in ebony scales; and its eyes the deadliest shade of crimson. It's Diamond's first actual sighting of such a beast, and every instinct in her screams to run, but she can't look away. Besides, running means leaving Libby behind, and she won't do that.

"Libby." Diamond croaks.

Lashing its serpent-like tail, the dragon crushes two of the citizens running towards the gate, but its attention is on the horde of villagers and citizens in front of it. Horror trembles through Diamond as the creature opens its mouth and strafes the closest wagons and people with fire.

"Libby!" an ice bomb explodes somewhere in the pit of Diamond's stomach, set off by the sudden realization.

Diamond grips Libby by the strap of her uniform. The dragon roars, people wail, and fire snaps viciously. People stagger to the towers, burned and limping. Little remains of the citizens trapped in the dragon's fire.

General Tullius commands. "Guards, get the townspeople to safety!"

The beast lashes its tail, narrowly missing the general.

Libby grabs Diamond's elbow and jerks her to the side. "Come on!"

Libby runs down the remains of the cobblestone road, Dia follows after her.

"Where's your arrows?!" Dia asks.

Libby is a near master marksman, and her greatest weapon is a bow of any kind. No matter Imperial, Hunting or Dwarven, in her hands, it's lethal.

"Back at the Guild, dammit." Libby's breath hisses. "I didn't anticipate this!"

An Imperial soldier's body gets tossed in front of them, and Diamond clamps her hand over her mouth. His body is scored, steam fizzing off his skin with a snakelike hiss. There's another explosion and Dia instinctively throws herself to the ground. Libby stubbles off the cobblestone and onto the uneven space of grass.

"Libby!" Dia pulls at her as another wave of terrified citizens fight to get out of harm's way and back into the towers.

Dia takes an elbow to the chest from a husky man in a tattered cloak, and spins out of the way before the mule rider behind him can crash her beneath his steed's hooves. The ground shakes so much it's hard for Libby to find her footing, but she claws her way back over to the soldier and grabs' the man's arm and wrestles off a sheath of fifteen steel arrows and an Imperial bow.

People are burning, throwing themselves on the ground and beating at the flames, but the beast just keeps spewing fire at anything that moves. Sickened, Dia turns and hangs on to Libby. She wants to cry, to give voice to the rising shock and terror within her, but the Brotherhood taught her better than that. Losing her head in a crisis is a good way to _become_ the crisis.

Instead, she loops her arm under Libby's and tug. "Get up. We can't stay here."

Libby pushes to her feet and slings the bow over her shoulder. Keeping one hand around Dia's wrist, they begin to run again. The closest tower is four yards away. There was a surge, like an explosion, sending a wave of air rushing over the village. The air swirled up toward the sky, in the same moment, it was sucked up into the blackness above.

While the sky was still black, there was a moment of unnerving silence, the crackling of the fire reducing on its sown. Disintegrating down, consuming itself until it was as harmless as a dying fire in a hearth. Dia's lungs sting from lack of oxygen, but they're not far from the tower. Sweat runs into her eyebrows. They reach the tower and slam the door shut, brisking past two standing Stormrcloaks, and two collapsed in splattered puddles of their own blood. Libby leans against the brick way, heaving and glistening with sweat.

"Where do we go?!" the panicked Stormcloak asks another.

Libby looks to Dia, who only gives an inconspicuous shake of her head. Libby pushes off the wall with her hip and trudges to the center. She looks up and turns in a complete circle.

"Up there." She points with a shaky finger. Dia can barely see her through the spots on her vision, but Libby touches her shoulder.

"Up through the tower." is all she manages to say.

Diamond pushes to her feet, staggering as the world takes an alarming spin. Libby helps her up, supporting her weight. Dia forces herself to stand, ignoring the churning feeling in her stomach as they ascend the stairs. A hissing catches Libby's attention.

"Get down!" she shouts, clutching her hand on Dia's shoulder and jerking them down flat against the stairs.

A man kneeling, trying to catch his breath on the first landing only gets a glimpse at them before the wall of the tower is smashed inward, letting in fresh yet dust-filled air. Libby tugs Dia back as the dragon breathes its fire inside the tower, roasting the man in mere seconds.

When it finally retracts, boudlers and debris have collapsed, blocking off their way further up the tower.

Libby swears under her breath.

"What do we do now?" Dia asks.

Libby sets her aside and pokes her head out through the hole of the tower. Black skeletal remains of trees had fallen and crashed through the roofs of houses, they weren't even a story high, but it was still high enough. Libby looks down.

"Dia," she pats her face. "See that inn on the other side?" she hauls Dia to her feet. Dia seems recovered enough to stand on her own; she takes a deep breath. "We need to jump through the roof!"

Dia looks to Libby with mass shock and confusion. "Are you insane?! We're too high!"

"Just go! I'll follow!" she shouts.

The idea of leaping out of a building onto the first floor of an inn, knowing there's a hole that leads right to scorched wood, makes Dia want to throw up. She offers Libby her hand.

"Here, she says. Libby raises an eyebrow at her hand, about to say that she doesn't need help, but Diamond adds, I just . . . can't do it unless someone drags me."

Libby takes her hand and they stand at the edge of the hole. They take a deep breath in unison.

"Now!"

They launch out of the tower. A weightless moment, and then their feet slam into solid ground and pain prickles through their shines. The jarring landing sends them sprawling on the floor, splinters under their cheek.

"Okay?" Dia says when she sees Libby sitting in the sand a few feet away, rubbing her ankle.

"Yeah." She replies. She pushes herself to her feet.

The entire inn is destroyed and piles of stone and wood swallow most of the rooms.

"Dia, this way!" Libby calls.

Dia sees a doorway that remained and follows as they run through it out back into the open. The co-Imperial captain is trying to call a terrified boy over through a small wall of fire.

"Haming, you need to get over here. Now!" Hadvar exclaims. The boys run over, his face caked in ash. "That a boy, you're doing great!"

Arrows whiz by the girls as remaining soldiers try and shoot the dragon down, but Libby's and Diamond's stomachs sink as the creature lands, vibrating the ground beneath them and causing both girls to lose their footfall. Smoke billows up, choking them, and the flames crawl steadily towards them.

Libby's lungs scream for air, her muscles shake with the need to run, and her skin feels dry and parched. A soldier runs out from behind a house. The dragon lands right behind him. Panic blazes through the girls, sharp and absolute. The dragon opens its mouth. The man is chewed alive by the fire and collapses to the ground.

"Gods . . . everyone get back!" Hadvar orders.

Libby and Diamond follow his orders and scramble behind a small wall of fire from the remains of a house.

"You two, follow me and stay close. We need to get out of here." Hadvar's voice is calm and quiet.

Dia looks to Libby. "Just go with it." She breathes, and loads an arrow in her bow.

"Gunnar, take care of the boy. I have to find General Tulluis and join the defense." Hadvar says.

"Gods guide you, Hadvar."

"You two," he looks to Libby and Diamond. "Follow me."

They follow him through what used to be the Square, and across a bridge when he yells. "Stay close to the wall!"

The girls duck as fast as they can. The dragon lands on the brick, its one talon of one wing nearly inches from Libby's nose. Her heart pounds in her chest as it opens its mouth and unleashes more fire. It takes out two more Imperials, then flaps its wings and flies off.

"Quickly!" Hadvar yells.

They follow him up a small set of steps and through another burned house until they reach the North gates. They're shut, so Hadvar makes a quick sharp turn and Dia nearly fumbles if it weren't for Libby's reflexes. A group of stationary soldiers shoot arrows and fireballs at the beast. One soldier collapsed on the floor applying pressure to a wound on his side.

"It's you and me girls! Stay close!"

The dragon flies over the village, roaring and taking nearly twenty arrows in its side. Imperials are all the girls see as they follow Hadvar. They come under an archway and they see a safe house still intact. The girl sigh in relief as their muscles begin to throb, their burns and scratches only becoming more noticeable. Black spots prickle the edges of their vision. Hadvar stops abruptly and the girls skid to a stop.

"Ralof! You damned traitor. Out of my way!"

It's the same Stormcloak whom Dia saw from the beginning of the execution.

"We're escaping Hadvar. You're not stopping us this time."

Hadvar snarls. "Fine. I hope that dragon takes you all to Sovngarde!"

Libby's mouth is puckered like she swallowed something sour. She loads an arrow and aims at the Stormcloak. It misses him, but he's off-balance when Libby runs up and delivers a blow right to his jaw. Then she takes his head and brings it to her bent knee, then she kicks him in the side. He falls to the ground unconscious. The other soldiers were about to scream then the dragon's roar overpowers them.

"Libby!" Diamond screams. Libby drops to the ground. But the flames tickle the hair on her neck.

"You two, come on! Into the Keep!" Hadvar says as the runs to the door of a one floor stone brick house with a turret rising form its intersection.

The dragon flies directly over them and its underbelly ripples in the light of the flames.

"With me girls! Let's go!"

Libby takes Dia's hand and they sprint on final way towards Hadvar. She sheaths his sword.

"We've got to get inside. Now!"

Dia glances over her shoulder and the dragon lands directly facing them. Cold slips over their skin and around their heart and into the pit of their stomach. The tremor begins in her hands and spreads its way to her shoulders.

"Come on!" Libby grabs her and shoves her shoulder into the door.

Dia follows inside, barely missing the shot of ravenous fire as it complete blocks out the door, casting everything momentarily in a red and orange blaze. Libby then harshly kicks the door shut.

They pull themselves into the Keep. They both collapse to the floor and try to breathe through the pain. Now that they are safe, the adrenaline that propelled the girls here is fading, their pains getting worse. A sob rises within Dia, desperate for release, and she chokes it back. She looks to Libby, her face blood-smeared, her body quivering.

Somehow Dia finds her strength to crawl to her. Her eyes lift to Libby's then Libby wraps her arms around Dia, and they catch their breath together.


	2. Chapter 2

The Keep was entirely dominated, built and carved with stone. All four walls enclosed them with wooden banisters propped along the vaulted ceilings. Two four-pronged candelabrums stood near the middle aisle of the room as though on guard. Six torches are resting in black iron brackets against the stark white columns. The air felt smoky and closed off. There were beds lined up along one wall, the other had a table with two chairs, a chest, weapon racks, and a bookshelf.

"Looks like we're the only ones who made it." Hadvar says. He helps the girls to their feet. "Was that really a dragon? The bringer of the End Times?"

Libby only takes deep breaths while Diamond shakes her head slightly.

"We should keep moving. I see that you managed to snatch a bow," Hadvar points to Libby's Imperial bow. "but what about you?"

Dia looks around. Usually she handles two-hand based weapons, and Libby had only taught her the basics of one-handed, let alone duel wielding. And since neither of them anticipated an attack by a dragon, she had left her weapons back at the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. A place that's information was strictly confidential for obvious reasons.

"Um, maybe . . ."

"Why don't you take a look around. I'm going to see if I can find something for these burns." Hadvar says.

While Dia examines the weapon racks, she only finds steel swords; one on each of the two available in the room. She picks up the sword and secures her fingers. As she gives it a few swings, she notices how Hadvar hasn't arrested either of them since they still are convicted criminals. Arguably, both of their groups are highly respected, but would that really stop him from attempting an arrest? Or is it the fear that if he arrests one, the other will attack? No matter what the reason, she and Libby are both are still free and out of harm's way, and they both need to focus if they want to stay that way.

Dia turns and finds Libby rubbing some salve on her wounds and wrapping it in gauze. Without a word, she helps Libby secure and knot it; then Libby hands her the salve. Diamond repeats the process, and notices shattered bits in a small pile next to Libby. The horn.

"I'm sorry, Libs." Dia says quietly.

Libby shakes her head.

"We should get moving. That thing is still out there." Hadvar says.

The girls look and find Hadvar near a closed gate. He pulls on a chain built into the wall and the gates slides down; stone scraping against wood. Beyond a small hallway, an Imperial flag drapes from the wall. Another torch brightening the intersection. The girls let Hadvar take the lead and follow in after. Another gate comes up mere seconds later, and a voice echoes from behind it.

"We need to keep moving! That dragon is tearing up the whole keep!" a male voice speaks.

"Just give me a minute . . . I'm out of breath . . ." a female's voice breathes.

Hadvar leans close. "Stormcloaks."

Libby readies her bow.

"Hold on. Perhaps we can reason with them." He suggests.

He pulls on the chain and the gate slides down. Libby looks to Diamond who only shakes her head in disapproval.

Hadvar walks in raising his hands. "Hold on now, we only want to . . ."

The male Stormcloak pulls out a warhammer before he can even finish. "You won't take us alive!"

He swings his Warhammer, but Libby moves fast and blocks it with her bow. She snarls and pushes off, then whacking the man with the upper limb. He staggers back, a cut claiming the upper part of his cheek. The female Stormcloak pulls out her battleaxe.

"Dia!" Libby calls. Diamond pulls out her sword and takes on the male soldier while Hadvar handles the female.

Diamond swings her sword, but the soldier blocks by holding his weapon sideways. While Diamond swipes back and forth, managing to slice the man's upper thigh and bicep, Libby shoots her arrows from her sheath, first the other thigh, his side, and finally nailing him in the head. As he slumps to the ground, Hadvar managed to stagger the female soldier to her knees, then Libby finishes her with an arrow to the throat.

Libby looks around and sheaths her bow. "We're clear."

"Let me see if I can get that door open." Hadvar says.

Dia eagerly exchanges her sword for the iron Warhammer. Seemingly lighter than the one she uses, this one feels like a child's toy. While Libby extracts her arrows from the bodies, Dia leans down. "What do we do when we get out of here?"

"Go home." Libby answers bluntly, then mumbles. "I'll never hear the end of this from Vex. She'll never believe me."

"Libby," Dia hisses in a whisper. "we're just going to let him live?"

"Yeah, so?" Libby stands and puts the arrows back in her quiver.

"So?! Why not just kill him? I can guarantee he could arrest us at any moment. Even if we escape, he could put out a wanted poster of us after he leaves, or even report us to the authorities, cutting us out of the nine holds."

"Jeez you're pessimistic." Libby rubs her temples. "He could lay grounds for the Guild in Solitude, opening up new doors for us. But look, if you want to kill him, go ahead. It won't affect the Guild. But be sure to beat me too so it looks like I'm not associated with you."

"Yeesh, I thought we were friends here Libby." Diamond smirks.

"We're also in a business, Dia. Look, if you beat us both then run, it works out for both of us." Libby explains. "The Dark Brotherhood looks merciless, the Guild could get a possible new client, and this way we both walk away with success. That'll make up for the loss I got on the valuable."

Dia hates this part of Libby who always seems to associate everything with her business with the Guild. Sometimes Dia would just wish Libby would look to her more a friend than a business partner. Still, she was raised that way; but at points it seems like she has no regards for Diamond's feelings. That thing inside her, the thing that drives her to sacrifice everything for the sake of her assignment, she can't seem to disobey it. As if to disregard it would be disregarding the Guild itself. And Diamond can't shake that feeling of fear, the feeling that if it were to come to that point - the gods forbid - Libby would just leave her if it meant the success of her mission. Being in the Dark Brotherhood, Dia assumed it would be her in that position, but lately she's been questioning if she and Libby were somehow misplaced in the wrong factions.

"Gah, nothing." Libby grunts.

"What?"

"No money, what a waste." Libby tosses aside a pair of fur gauntlets and stands.

A muffled roar vibrates through the compound.

"Girls, let's go!" Hadvar calls.

Dia scans the room one last time before following after Libby through the iron doorway, shutting the gates behind her to ensure no one follows.

"Come on, this way." Hadvar leads.

They follow him down a flight of stairs and around a corner before the entire place shakes and the ceiling collapses in.

"Look out!" Libby screams. And she grabs Dia's shoulder and they jump back as the first boulder of the ceiling crashes to the floor and they're blown backwards.

The impact of the hard-packed stone nearly knocks the wind out of Dia. Libby's quiver of arrows has caught in the crook of her elbow, sparing both itself and her shoulder, and her bow is locked in her grasp. The ground vibrates beneath them and the girls both shield their faces with their arms as shattered bits of matter rain down near them. Dia feels Libby's body hovering over hers, her chest heaving from the sudden collapse.

"You okay?" Libby asks, and Dia nods. Libby helps her to her feet. They look and find their original path cut off by a wall of boulder and debris.

"Damn, that dragon doesn't give up easy." Hadvar says.

"Wait, what is that?" Libby says. She leans near the door that survived and hears voices. She motions Hadvar and Diamond closer.

"What are you doing?!" One male voice says. "We need to get out of Helgen! Now!"

"These Imperials have potions in here! We're going to need them." Another male voice replies.

Hadvar opens the door and walks in first. The girls follow behind. They enter a room with a pillar as the epicenter. Bordering around it, a fireplace is on one side, over in the corner a set of tables and bookshelves, and further in a storage of barrels and two Stormcloak soldiers.

"Hey!" Hadvar yells. Instantly drawing his sword and charging forward.

Libby readies her bow and takes down the two men with arrows to the skull seconds before Hadvar can swipe his sword to one of the soldier's necks. He looks to Libby wide-eyed.

Libby shrugs and smirks.

"Where are we?" Dia asks.

"An old storeroom. See if you girls can find any potions. Might come in handy."

The girls spread out and examine any odd colored bottles they find on the shelves. Libby finds a potion of minor magicka, Dia finds a potion of minor healing.

"Anything else?" Libby asks.

Dia pries open a barrel and finds three more minor healing potions, and one minor magicka and stamina. "Got some."

She hands one minor healing to Libby. "Keep it," Libby denies.

"Are you saying I'll need it more than you?" Dia teases.

"No, it's just my pockets are getting heavy from all this gold I'm carrying." Libby retorts.

They giggle and meet Hadvar by the door. "Done then? Let's move."

He opens the door and the girls follow him down a damp stone corridor. Some of the torches were knocked out by the debris, so they walk through stretches of darkness, like patches of bruises. The dank passageway smelt of kerosene and must. Orange flames set into the wall, cast their glow over making everything glisten a ripple with a line of light. They jog down a ramp-like hallway and hear a clang of metal along with disembodied voices.

"The torture room. Gods, I wish we didn't need these . . ." Hadvar says, his voice low as if he's ashamed to admit the Imperial army even has them.

Dia crouches and peeks in. the mention of a torture chamber reminds her of the chamber they had back home. The screams of them to beg for mercy always gave her a rush. She loved that explosion of power and energy, and the feeling that she is untouchable because she can hurt people. It was one of the few things that made her feel like she belonged in the Dark Brotherhood.

"Stormcloaks!" Hadvar yells. "Get them!"

The torturer's assistant barely misses the swing of a Warhammer as a female strikes. "Close."

Libby stays aback and shoots from the slope that leads down into the chamber while Dia and Hadvar take on the soldiers up close. Diamond would get in a few swings, then Libby would shoot an arrow in the spots that Dia missed. Then they would continue on until the opponent was defeated.

Diamond blocks an attack from the male soldier then swings left and right, nailing him in the jaw and stomach. Then an arrow whizzes by Dia's head and nails him in the throat. She turns to Libby and gives her a thumbs up. Libby nods then sheathes her bow as Hadvar finishes the other soldier.

The chamber consist of three main cages on the one side, on the far side of the room is another cage, bigger and holds a small bar area for the workers. Next to it, smaller and rounded dome-shaped cages. There's a small platform smattered and spluttered with blood. Of the three square cages, two of them are occupied by a skeleton, and the body of a Nord.

"We need to find a way out of here." The torturer's assistant says.

"You fellows happened along just in time. These boys seemed a bit upset at how I've been entertaining their comrades." The torturer says.

"Don't you even know what's going on? A dragon is attacking Helgen!" Hadvar says.

"A dragon? Don't make nonsense." The torturer replies. "Although I was wondering what those noises were."

Meanwhile, Libby sneaks over and picks the lock of the one cage with the bones. There's nothing but an old book. Nevertheless, Libby takes it anyway.

"Come with us. We need to get out of here." Hadvar invites. And Libby looks to him and sneers, not wanting him to come along. Hadvar answers with an inconspicuous shake of his head.

"You have no authority over me, boy." The torturer snipes.

Dia snarls and draws a dagger she got from one of the soldiers. After picking the lock of the second cage, Libby manages to collect six gold, and a Tome of Sparks in magicka. Searching the mage, she finds more gold. She moves on to the knapsack on a small table next to another dagger and a book titled "The Book of the Dragonborn."

"Didn't you hear me? I said the keep is under attack!" Hadvar informs.

The torturer's assistant interjects. "Forget the old man. I'll, come with you."

Hadvar nods and the man trudges forward. Libby trifles through the knapsack and finds more gold and lockpicks.

"Sure, take all my things." The torture replies. And Libby only looks to him, smiles and continues as if nothing is wrong.

Hadvar looks down the hall where the assistant ran. "There's no way out that way, you know . . ." says the torturer.

When Hadvar leaves, Libby waits by the doorway. The torturer had his back to them, and Dia still had a grip on her dagger. She looks to Libby, who smiles and nods. Dia smiles back and walks up plainly to the torturer. She quickly cups her hand over his mouth and slices at his throat with the blade. He releases a muffled sob, choked by blood and collapse to the ground. Dia immediately turns and jogs toward Libby smiling.

"Happy?" she asks.

"Yeah." Dia nods.

They delve down deeper into the chamber, and enter anther room where right when you walk in, three of the dome cages are suspended. On with a Nord body clothed in rags, another holding a skeleton. Over one the far side is another platform with one cage with a skeleton. Libby doesn't hesitate to search the Nord and finds some gold, then the skeletons with the same result.

The torturer's assistant stands on guard while Hadvar inspects a whole that appeared to be blasted through the stone brick. It seems to lead down into a cave that wasn't originally part of the chamber itself. They follow through the tunnel and around a short corner when more voices emerge. Libby snatches Diamond, about to go and holds her back. They kneel down and wait. Hadvar watches them closely and listens.

"Where in the name of Talos are we supposed to go?" one man asks, his voice laced with fear. "Where's the way out?"

"Let me think!" Another male voice replies.

The room was an underground cavern with tunnels that lead to different sections of the Keep. A river divides the room in half and stairs lead up to both platforms on either side of the room. Hadvar and the assistant were about to go, when Libby grabs Hadvar's wrist and holds him back. She shakes her head and signals him to wait. He nods and steps back, the assistant follows. Libby looks to Dia and Dia nods.

Libby's the first to go and she crouches down and waits for the Stormcloak to turn his back. He does and Libby instantly nails him with an arrow. He grunts and slumps to the ground. Another soldier from down the steps hears this and readies her weapon as she goes to investigate. Libby immediately retracts into the shadows as the soldier comes up, vanishing. Then Dia emerges and grabs the soldier by the hair and slits her throat. She slumps to the ground with a thud. Then another soldier catches them, but Hadvar rams her with his sword and two more pile into the room.

"Die rebel!" Hadvar shouts.

Libby and Dia spot archers across the way and Libby instantly pulls out her bow while Dia handles the men up front with Hadvar. The soldiers get a couple arrows in before Libby takes them down with one shot.

"Die damn you!" Someone shouts.

Two more come in and Dia runs across the riverway. "I'll see you I pieces!" "You're kind has no place here!" the Stormcloaks shout. They get in a few good swings, and so does Dia. Then as she drives one soldier to his knees, she finds them stepping in a strange colored liquid. Kerosene. She looks to Libby.

"Libby!" She calls.

Libby looks and sees the liquid and nods. She draws and arrow and dips it in a puddle of the liquid on her side. She strikes it on the ricks and the thing pops into a flame. Dia runs and jumps off the steps as she fires and instantly when the arrow hits, the entire puddle erupts in flames, clinging to the soldiers and licking along their limbs. Dia pats a small flame that nicked her elbow and watches the soldiers fall to the ground charred and burned. The smell of burning flesh permeates her nose and immediately flashes Dia back to the villagers and the dragon's fire. She feels slightly sick only for a moment before Libby comes and helps her to her feet.

"Alright, let's see if we can find a way out." Hadvar instructs.

Libby quickly gather the iron arrows that the Stormcloak archers had and combines them with her steel arrows.

"Wait, what happened . . ." Dia was about to ask when she finds the body of the torturer's assistant lying on the ground, lifeless. "Oh."

"Come on." Libby says, nudging Dia's elbow.

They follow Hadvar through a tunnel way and come shortly to a drawbridge upright. A lever off to the left.

"Let's see where this leads." Libby suggests.

Hadvar activates the lever and the bridge drops down on creaking hinges and slamming into the ground. They cross the bridge to another platform leading down into the following chamber. Just as Libby had stepped off, there's another muffled roar and an avalanche rumbles down.

"Libby!" Dia shouts and pulls Libby off the steps as the rocks crumble down. They build up and block off the path instantly.

Hadvar rushes up the steps and just looks for a moment. "Dammit. No going back that way. I guess we're lucky that didn't come down on top of us."

Libby and Dia only nod and turn to look at the room.

"We'd better push on. I'm sure the others will find another way out." Libby ensures.

Hadvar nods. This time Diamond and Libby take the lead and Hadvar follows. They trudge down the steps and down the stream that leads into a narrow tunnel-like passageway. Their feet sloshing in the water, Libby chuckles as she hears Diamond. "Ew, ew, ew. . ." They soon reach the end and the water drops down a few hundred feet.

Hadvar grunts in aggravation. "Ugh, that doesn't go anywhere."

Dia takes notice of a lantern lit by a skeleton and a coin purse. Libby takes the coin purse automatically, and Dia puts her fingertips on the wall with a feather-like touch. She peers down through the optical illusion rocks and finds another passageway.

"This might go somewhere." She calls.

Libby and Hadvar follow Dia down the passageway, Libby keeping her hand along the wall. Dia soon stops in her tracks as the tunnel opens up into a large room covered in webs and pods. They decorated every nook and cranny of the chamber and Dia could see human-shaped pods wrapped in webs. She swallows thickly and steps back. Hadvar takes the lead. There's one spider on the ground and two more descend from the ceiling. Dia yelps and steps back. Libby crawls up forward and loads her bow. Hadvar steps back to give her room.

Libby loads an arrow and nails one spider on the ground. The other two raise their front legs and hiss, poison oozing from their fangs. Libby loads another arrow and takes out the first spider closest, then the one in the back. There's the disgusting sound of the arrows piercing their fangs and sloshing of their poison before the collapse to the ground.

"What next, giant snakes?" Hadvar amuses.

Dia helps Libby extract some of the venom from the fangs of the spiders and Libby stores them away in one of her many pockets of her Guild uniform. Following Hadvar through another short passageway, they come to a more open chamber, the immediate scent of fresh air catches their senses.

"This looks like the way." says Hadvar.

A river waterfall flows through the chamber leading to a small pond off to the right. Rays of icy daylight pierce through the stone and Libby lets loose a sigh of hope as she sees the clear blue sky of the outside. For someone who spends a majority underground, Libby sure hates exploring caves. They cross the river and pass a stalactite when Hadvar stops.

"Hold up. There's a bear up ahead." He whispers. He points and as if on cue, a huge cave bear rises from her resting position and yawns. "I'd rather not tangle with her right now. We might be able to sneak by."

Dia looks to Libby and smiles, and the two break into giggles. Hadvar looks to them, and smirks.

"Or, if you're feeling lucky, you can use your bow. Might take her by surprise. You go ahead, I'll follow your lead and watch your back." He mutters.

Libby takes the lead and Diamond follows after, then Hadvar. The bear slumps down and yawns before snuggling into herself and shutting her eyes. Dia looks closely as she tries to follow Libby's footsteps. Where she steps, how lightly she steps and sticks close to the shadows. The bear lifts its head. Dia stops dead in her tracks.

"Easy does it now." Hadvar whispers. He guides Dia back to Libby and when they make it to a corner, they rise. Hadvar sighs. "Whew. That was close."

He retakes the lead and shows the girls another way down a slope and turning the next corner there's daylight.

"This looks like the way out!" Hadvar says.

"I was starting to wonder if we'd ever make it." Dia says.

Libby's face lights up with excitement and she breaks into a sprint and heads for the exit. Dia laughs and follows her leaving Hadvar behind. They break through the exit and Libby screams at the top of her lungs, a whoop of absolute joy. She rotates in a circle and collapses on the ground on her back. Dia laughs and sits on a rock to catch her breath. It felt so fresh and the sky was so blue, Dia missed it compared to the sky that was overtaken with smoke and the dampness of the cave. There's a light sprinkling of snow on the ground which signals that they're in the mountains. Pine trees surrounding them all around, freshening their nostrils of the moist walls of the cave and the smell of smoke and blood from the chamber. Hadvar's the last out, smiling.

Then a flap of wings catches their attention.

"Wait!" he hisses and ducks behind a rock.

The dragon flaps over them, roaring as it scans the trees. It roars and then disappears over the treeline, disappearing into the clouds. It's huge ebony body consumed in smears of white and grey. Dia and Libby release a held breath.

"Looks like he's gone for good this time." Says Hadvar. "But I don't think we should stick around to see if he comes back."

"So what now?" Dia asks.

"The closest town from here is Riverwood." Libby says. Dia looks over and sees she's pulled out her map. Dia walks over and leans over her shoulder.

"My uncle's the blacksmith there. I'm sure he'd help you girls out." Hadvar says. He then looks down and turns away. "Thank you both. I wouldn't have made it without your help today."

"Wait! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait." Libby says, grabbing Hadvar's shoulder. "You're just going to leave us?"

"I need to inform my uncle about this attack." Hadvar says.

"Yeah, and we need a place to crash as well as supplies." Libby argues. "Plus, I've only been to Riverwood through carriage rides, most of which I've fallen asleep on."

Hadvar turns to Diamond. "What about you?"

"Family trips when I was young, but barely remember." Dia says shrugging her shoulders. She knew that Libby was lying and decided to go along with it; she really was exhausted after all, and the time seems to have sped up since they were in the cave. What was once a blue early sky is now nearly twilight as the sun sinks over the horizon. How long were they in there?

"Look, I need to get to Riverwood, and you girls should go home."

"If we knew the way we would." Dia says.

Hadvar starts jogging down the hill and the girls follow. After a few moments of listening to their feet slapping the ground, Hadvar finally speaks up. "Listen you girls should go to Solitude and join up with the Imperial Legion. We could really use some people like you girls. And if the rebels have themselves a dragon, General Tullius is the only one who can stop them."

They follow down the hill and finally come to the main road where a sign post points you to the right direction depending on which city you're going to. The girls continue to walk along Hadvar as they trudge along the road. Then he stops and looks up.

"See that ruin up there? Bleak Falls Barrow. When I was a boy, that place always used to give me nightmares. Draugr creeping down the mountain to climb through my window at night, that kind of thing."

Bleak Falls Barrow is one of many Nord burial mounds all across Skyrim. It's where the ancients buried their dead, and as a result, the place is infested with aggressive draugr. It's the looks like the perfect place for a dragon to perch, but other than that there are usually a number of bandits guarding the outer parameter of the temple. The exterior of the ruin is very impressive with its stone arches, and only a few ruins have such impressive exteriors.

The first section of the Barrow is known as Bleak Falls Temple. It's is an underground-style dungeon. There is also an inner section which is blocked by a Nordic puzzle door that only a certain kind of claw can open. According to what Libby has told Diamond from other explorations.

"Some tell-tale your parents told you to keep you in line?" Libby tease.

"I admit, I still don't much like the look of it." Hadvar admits.

They continue further down the hill along the road and come to a trio of standing stones.

"These are the Guardian Stones, three of the thirteen ancient standing stones that dot Skyrim's landscape." Hadvar explains.

The Stones are located north-northwest of Helgen close to the river. They consist of the Warrior Stone, the Mage Stone and the Thief Stone. Shaped like ginormous white chess pieces, the monuments stand taller and wider than a person, raised off the ground by a semicircle cut stone base. Embedded in the center of the stones are portraits of a thief wearing a cloak and carrying a bag of gold, a wizard or mage wielding a staff, and a warrior bound in armor and wielding a sword and shield.

"Go ahead. See for yourself." Hadvar encourages.

Libby takes a breath and steps up to the stones. After a moment of silence, the Thief Stone glows; brighter a Libby approaches. Finally as she touches the stone, a beam of light shoots straight from the stone to the sky.

Hadvar is silent. Libby simple nods.

It's Dia's turn, and oddly enough, the Warrior stone glows.

"Warrior, good! You look the type." Hadvar says.

"And I suppose I resemble that of a thief?" Libby sourly asks, brushing past him.

Hadvar turns and reaches out to Libby's elbow. "I'm not degrading you because of what was picked, or even what it claimed you are. Your skills contributed to our escape as much as your fighting did. Both of you. Never let anyone define who you are, or disgrace what you are." Hadvar smiles and leans in. "Everyone is special in their own way."

This draws a smile on Libby's lips, and Dia clears her throat.

"We should get to Riverwood." She informs. "It's getting dark."

"How much farther?" Dia asks.

"We should be there by nightfall." Says Hadvar. As they continue along the main road, a howl off to the right catches their attention. "What was that?"

Libby has already spotted them, wolves. She loads an arrow and takes out one, Hadvar takes on a second, Dia the third. Once the pack is cleared, Dia makes quick haste to skin their carcass for pelts.

"We're almost to Riverwood." Hadvar says.

Finally they come up from a dip in the road and find another wall that's similar to the one that once housed Helgen. Brick mixed with wood and plaited roofs. Quaint houses and shop line up along the sides of the main road. People mingling about and entering and exiting shops. The girls hang back by the entrance until Hadvar enters in and ushers them forward.

"Things look quiet enough here. Come on. There's my uncle." Hadvar points.

He points to a man of Nord gene, with blonde hair whose color extends down into his beard. He wears the general blacksmith's tunic and apron, a Warhammer slung over his back. He seems owns a respectable house in the town. The girls stand back as Hadvar approaches.

"Uncle Alvor! Hello!" he greets.

The man looks up and smiles, his teeth white in the twilight. "Hadvar! What are you doing here? Are you on leave from . . ." his eyes widen. "Shor's bones, what happened to you, boy?" he leans in and whispers. "Are you in some kind of trouble -?"

Libby and Diamond gaze around the town as Hadvar talks with Alvor. It's only when he mentions them do they pay attention. Alvor looks to the girls as they approach behind Hadvar. "What's going on? And who're they?"

"They're friends. Come on, I'll explain everything, but we need to go inside." Hadvar says.

Alvor sighs. "Okay, okay. Come inside. Sigrid will get you something to eat and you can tell me all about it."

Hadvar steps down from the forge connected to the home and the girls silently follow the men as they enter the home. Outside there are two long benches to rest, and Libby warms her hands by thee forge fire before they both scurry inside.

Inside, the home had a relatively comfortable and warming feel to it. There's a main fireplace on the one wall, then next to it on the right is a bed, a dresser by the corner, and another bed adjacent to it. Chests located at the foot of each, and a child waking up from a nap. The left of the room consisted of a dinner table loaded with food, another bookshelf, and a staircase that leads down to the lower level of the home. Immediately, Libby walks over to the dresser and chests. She finds them locked, and continues on to the cooking spit. Dia does her best to hide Libby's 'inspection' as Alvor calls.

"Sigrid! We have company!"

Immediately footsteps echo from below and a young woman emerges between the banisters before she completely come out from below the basement. She has coppery-brown hair and wears a simple tunic with a belt of pockets. Her face brightens when she lays eyes on Hadvar.

"Hadvar!" she squeals. "We've been so worried about you!" she flicks her eyes to Libby and Dia. "Come, you three must be hungry. Sit down and I'll get you something to eat."

Libby nods her head and Dia thanks her quietly. Libby remains by the cooking pot by the fire while Dia sits at the other head of the table. The first occupied by Alvor.

"Now then boy. What's the big mystery? What are you doing here looking like you lost an argument with a cave bear?"

"I don't know where to start." Hadvar sighs. "You know I was assigned to General Tullius's guard. We were stopped in Helgen when we were attacked . . . by a dragon."

Libby freezes to look over her shoulder and Dia keeps her eyes on the two men.

"A dragon? That's . . . ridiculous. You aren't drunk, are you boy?" Alvor asks. Over in the corner, Libby snickers.

"Husband, let him tell his story." Sigrid speaks. She folds her arm and eyes him wearily.

"Not much more to tell. This dragon just flew over and wrecked the whole place. Mass confusion. I don't know if anyone else got out alive." He lowers his head as he speaks this, then raises it and smiles at Dia, then Libby as she walks over behind Dia's chair. "I doubt I'd have made it out myself if not for my friends here."

Dia and Libby smile and Libby isn't afraid to snitch a salmon steak as well as an alto wine bottle. She takes a seat next to Dia and devoirs the thing in minutes. She then takes an entire load of bread and divides it with Dia. Dia accepts it and plucks a few snowberries off the branch on the table.

"I need to get back to Solitude and let them know what's happened." Hadvar says. "I thought you could help us out. Food, supplies, a place to stay."

"Of course! Any friend of Hadvar is a friend of mine. I'm glad to help however I can." Alvor gaiety.

"So does this mean we can take this coin purse?" Dia instantly asks.

She springs from her seat and goes over to the coin purse as well as scattered gold on the table near the bed. Libby feels her cheeks warm with embarrassment, and she covers her hand with her face, shaking her head. But Alvor only smiles and shakes his head.

"Like I said, I'm glad to help in any way that I can. But I need your help. _We_ need your help." He says as Libby takes the coin purse.

"What do you need?" Libby asks.

"The Jarl needs to know if there's a dragon on the loose. Riverwood is defenseless . . ." Alvor explains. "We need to get word to Jarl Balgruuf in Whiterun to send whatever soldiers he can. If you'll do that for me, I'll be in your debt."

"Of course." Libby promises. "Seems only fair. We were just about to head there anyway and catch a carriage ride."

"Wonderful. Thank you." Hadvar rises from his chair. "Well I'd better get back to work. You two make yourselves at home. Take what you need. Within reason, of course." He encourages.

Dia doesn't waste time plopping herself into one of the beds in the corner. She takes down her hair and sighs. Libby takes the other vacant bed and pulls of her shoes and hood. She smiles at Dia sprawled across the bed.

"Tired?" She asks with a smile.

"You have the idea." Dia says.

"Well, after a good night' sleep, we'll return home and be back to our old lives. Hopefully." Libby ensures.

"You girls aren't from here?" Sigrid asks.

"No, we're from Riften actually." Dia answers.

Sigrid raises her eyebrows. "Wow, that's quite the trip. To Helgen and then here, to Whiterun."

"We never rest." Libby amuses.

"Well, let me give you girls some advice. We don't get that many visitors out here in Riverwood, so be weary. You're going to have the men around here wrapped around your fingers in no time." She says.

"Aw thank you." Dis giggles.

"You're saying there aren't that many pretty girls around here? Besides you, of course." Libby sugarcoats her words.

Sigrid laughs. "You're pretty, I'll give you that. Just stay away from my husband Alvor."

Dia holds up her hands, palms up and shakes her head. Libby simply laughs and crosses her finger over her heart.

As Sigrid heads back down into the basement, Dia shifts in her bed – which mainly consists of a stack of hay and an animal pelts - and snuggles into the fur as comfortably as she can. She watches as Libby strips off her uniform and stores it in the trunk, then fetching a blue silk robe from the wardrobe. Shrugging it over her shoulders and securing the strap, she yawns and undoes her hair.

"You never realize how exhausted you are until you crash into bed." She comments.

Dia laughs and yawns. "So, how long will we stay here?"

"Until we're rested, or until morning." Libby slurs through a yawn. "So get some sleep."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Dia."


	3. Chapter 3

Counting out the gold sprinkled on the bed, the total results to 623. Despite her numerous attempts, her numerous thieving and pickpocketing and trading, Libby still comes up short in her pursue to buy a stunning black bow at the Drunken Huntsman in Whiterun.

While it would be just as easy to break in and steal it, this is one of those rare occasions where she wishes to pay for what she wants. That feeling of earned comes to her mind, and despite her approach, the reward would still feel the same. Maybe even more. Sighing, Libby gathers all the coins back into the coin purse, tightens the pull string, and sets it inside the drawer of her end table.

She climbs out of her bed and moves to the one mirror in the room to fix her hair. It is behind a panel in the wardrobe near the bed. She gathers all of her thick black mess of curls away from her face and secures it with a hairband. Then with careful fingers, begins to weave and wrap each section into her intricate and trademark braid. Looking in the mirror, in her reflection, she sees almond-shaped hazel eyes, a thin nose and a heart-shaped face.

Diamond still sleeps, sprawled completely over her bed. Spits of hay messed in her dark hair. Her arm is hanging over the edge of her bed, her fingertips brushing the floor. A soft snore snorting through her nose, and there is a piece of hair covering her nose and mouth that shifts with each exhale.

Streaks of early morning light pierce through the crevices in the wood of the roof and the smell of dew creeps through the door and wafts Libby's nose. The Thieves Guild Armor is a light armor mostly made of leather and is lightweight, making it ideal for the agile shadow-hugging thief. She folds her robe and sets it back into the trunk at the foot of the bed. The brown supple leather material clings to her figure; consisting of the armor itself, gloves and a hood, it ensures a slim fit. She steps into the boots, not even bothering to be quiet. A herd of cattle wouldn't wake Diamond up; yet is she hears the slightest creak in the wood floor, she spring up and ready her blade.

Libby steps out to the porch, an early morning mist dwindles through the street and a fresh cold breeze sends welcoming goosebumps along Libby's arms. Once she's outside, the cool air wakes her up. There are a few people milling around the Sleeping Giant and emerging from their shop; including Alvor who comes around the corner of the house carrying firewood for the house.

"Morning sir," Libby greets with a smile.

"Ah morning . . ." He pauses and squints an eyebrow trying to remember.

"Libby, sir." She says.

"Libby, yes. My apologies."

"It's fine. Let me help you with that." She says as she jogs over and takes some of the wood off of Alvor's arms.

"So, not that I don't appreciate your company, but when are you girls leaving? Word needs to get to the Jarl straight away."

"Well Dia's a bit of a late sleeper so after the attack, I'd let her sleep in. Though I'm surprised she managed to sleep through the night." Says Libby.

"Not the same for you?"

Libby shakes her head as she sets the firewood outside the door. "Damn dragon. Haunts me even in the shadows; where I usually feel safe." She mumbles.

Alvor opens his mouth to say something, but is cut short by the sound of a loud yawn. "Whoa, what a night. I slept like a bump on a log!"

Libby turns to see Diamond out on the front porch, fixing her sandy hair into its usual ponytail. She now wears, as she did when they first came to Riverwood, wearing the armor worn by assassins of the Dark Brotherhood. The armor is red and black, with many straps and buckles running down the chest and across the waist. She's been sleeping in her clothes since they came to Riverwood.

"Sleep well?" Libby asks. Dia nods and smiles in return. "It's funny, in let you sleep since I know you wake up late, but on the same day you decide to get up early."

"I can't help myself." Dia says. "I'm a wild card!"

"Hmph, you're wild alright." Libby retorts.

"So, when do we leave to Whiterun?" Dia asks with a wide smile.

"Whenever you're ready. Why are you so eager?" Libby asks.

"I've never been to Whiterun, or much of the holds."

"Really? I'd imagine your . . . line of work, would have out traveling all over." Libby covers.

"I'm still new, Libby."

Libby rolls her eyes and leans on the wood banister of the porch. "If I may ask," Alvor interjects. "How old are you, Libby?"

"Nineteen."

"Ah, and you Dia?"

"I'm sixteen." Dia answers.

"Are you two related?" Alvor asks as he pulls out a slab of metal. It glows a bright orange blaze and spits embers of light as he hammers it on the anvil.

"No, we met through business." Libby answers.

"Oh, my apologies. It's just that you two seem so close." Alvor says.

"Well, that's because we are." Dia smiles, nudging Libby in the arm. Libby smiles and gives a breathy laugh. "We've been together for, years."

"I actually think we met when you were, what fourteen?" Libby asks.

"I think."

"Hate to interrupt, but shouldn't you two be heading to Whiterun?" Alvor points out.

"Oh, right." says Libby.

"You want us gone, fine!" Dia says smiling and waving her hand.

"We'll make sure the Jarl gets your message." Libby assures.

"I thank you." Alvor replies.

Libby and Diamond hop on the main road of Riverwood and make their way to the North exit. Crossing through the gateway, they cross the bridge and take the northern road. Summer is spreading through Skyrim as birds flock through the trees and butterflies pollinate mountain flowers. The air smells of fresh water and pine.

"So, you really going to deliver the news?" Dia asks as she kicks aside some pebbles.

"Of course. It's the least I, we, could do." Libby answers. "You spelt like a log last night. I'm surprised."

"What? Rough night?" Dia asks.

Libby rubs her eyes in answer. It's then Dia notices dark circles under her eyes. When was the last time Libby had a good night sleep?

She's been running ramped trying to give the Guild a reputation again in Skyrim. It's currently having a run of bad luck, and she's been taking on extra jobs from Delvin and Vex. Not a day goes by that Diamond doesn't see her entering and leaving the Flagon with a job assigned. And still the members don't give her the respect Dia claims she had earned long ago. But anything she says could harm Libby's reputation, and her chances of staying in the Guild; Dia falsely implying that's Libby's making a decent living outside the Guild – which she could be – and then the Guild would answer with that they don't need her or something along those lines. So Dia keeps her mouth close, even though she and the Guild know that they'd never discharge Libby. She's far too valuable a thief for them to let go.

"Okay," says Libby. "Whiterun is just down the hill." She points and on the horizon, Dia can see the outline of a city atop a large hill.

Whiterun is the capital of the Whiterun Hold, and known as a peaceful city in Skyrim. It's located on the eastern end of its Hold, in the tundra plains that fill the center of Skyrim. The Jarl is known to avoid political affairs, and the most well-known guild or social club to join is the Campanions. Their mead hall Jorrvaskr is the central hall in the Cloud District.

The girls follow the main road up until the reach the farmlands that are scattered outside the wall. As the girls mingle, they take in the landscape and when they come closer, they see a fight.

"What the -?" Dia starts, but then she's yanked harshly down by Libby, and the moment they hit the ground, a large rock braises over their heads.

They look up and find a trio of warriors fighting off a giant.

Giants are a race of gargantuan humanoids found in the wilderness of Skyrim and High Rock. Invaders are said to be attacked with the massive clubs constructed by them. Standing between 11 and 12 feet tall, they have thick gray skin, long, powerful limbs, large hands and feet, and thick greyish-brown hair decorated with braids and beads. Most giants have decorative scars carved into their chests, possibly serving as tribal or religious symbols. They are relatively peaceful creatures as long as potential threats keep their distance, and leave their mammoths unharmed.

This giant has arrows lodged in its back and roars with rage as he pounds the ground with his fists, vibrating through the soils. Libby and Dia wobble as they stand and hold together.

"Should we help?" Dia asks.

A man with brown hair and smeared in dirt, wielding a greatsword goes to slice at the giant's knee, but the giant whacks him with his club. To their surprise, he merely stumbles back, then regains footing quickly.

"Lucky hit!" he says. But then a girl with short brown hair and tan skin takes an initial hit and fumbles to one knee. The giant goes for a deathblow, but an arrow pierces his bicep.

"I think they've got it covered." Libby gestures, but her voice is weary.

But then the giant grips around the throat it of the man and raises him high.

"Or maybe we could lend a hand." Libby then says. "I'll get his attention, then you come in for the kill." She instructs.

"That's what I do best." Dia smiles with a wink.

Libby then sprints forward. She lifts her arms. Bending forward, using her gained momentum, she launched in a round-off. The world blurred, becoming a mesh of light and streaking colors. Catapulting into a midair Arabian, knees tucked in, she became weightless. The giant takes notice. Then, bam, her feet met the bare ground, ankles jarring from the impact on the hand, cushion-free surface.

But like a windup toy set into motion, there would be no stopping.

A millisecond later and she completes the second round-off, pulled through the hands-free whip, and finished the back handspring, air whistling in her ears. She launches towards the giant, gripping his wrist and swinging on it kicking him in the face. The giant's grip on the man's neck loosens and the man drops to the grounds gasping.

Diamond helps him to his feet and slings his arm around her neck and hauls him to a small concrete divide wall. He slumps down, but Dia knows he'll be fine. The giant roars and as he goes for a blind swings, Diamond backlfips and sends three daggers into the monsters' arm.

The giant grunts and roars. He swings his club at Libby who agile dodges and rolls. As the giant goes to swing a punch to her, she bends back, grips and swings around the giant's wrist. The swings up his arm, around his torso and then back up front, gripping its chin, and carried by her momentum, she yanks back and with one foot dangling above the ground, she presses the other into the small of the giant's back. There's a thick popping sound.

"Dia, now!"

Diamond readies her iron sword and tosses it between hands before sprinting forward, spinning the blade out. Pushing off her feet, she launches and grips the hilt of the sword with both hands. As gravity aids her, she drives the blade straight into the chest of the giant. It roars and slumps. Both girls push off as it crashes to the ground.

Dia lands on a rock, Libby on the ground next to her. Her motions were so graceful, the sly and smoothness of a practiced thief. With her sword still stuck, Dia sighs and goes to extract it. She wipes the blood on the grass and sheaths her blade, trying to ignore the rusty smell of crimson wafting in her nose.

"You good?" Libby asks.

"Yeah, I'm good." Dia answers.

As they regroup, the woman, the archer, approaches. "You girls handle yourselves well. You both could make for decent Shield-Sisters. I'm Aela the Huntress."

She appears fairly young, with coppery-red hair, icy-green eyes, and war paint that mimics scratch marks across her face. She has a quiver of iron arrows, and a hunting bow slung across her back.

"What are Shield-Sisters?" Dia asks.

"An outsider, eh? Never heard of the Companions?" she says. "An order of warriors. We are brothers and sisters in honor. And we show up to solve problems if the coin is good enough."

Dia smiles at this. It's not something she wants to do, but then again, she knows little about it. And this seems like a group that would tolerate her impulsive temper. Libby crosses her arms, unconvinced.

"Pfft. Sounds like a waste of time." Libby says. And to her surprise, Dia glares at her.

"Well, nobody asked you. If you think you're better than we are, go talk to Kodlak Whitemane. See what a warrior or true mettle is like."

"Oh I know I'm better than you honey." Libby scoffs. "You just don't." Libby bumps her shoulder as she passes Aela, a smirk on her lip as Aela glares.

Dia stays behind briefly before approaching. "Is there any way to join?" she whispers.

Aela looks to her and gives a faint smile. "Not for me to say. You should speak to Kodlak. The man has a good sense of people. He can look you in the eye, and tell you you're worth. If you do go see him, good luck."

Diamond nods and smiles and quickly catches up to Libby, who has stopped and turned to wait for her. Dia's stomach sinks, but she acts like nothing happened. She knows Libby saw, and that she won't bring it up until later. Then again, what Dia does isn't Libby's business, and while she may not agree with it, she doesn't stop Dia, not usually.

When approaching Whiterun, the towering fortress of Dragonsreach dominates the view.

Its history can be traced back to the First Era, when King Olaf One-Eye subdued the great dragon Nominal in a legendary duel of Thu'ums atop Mount Anthor, and brought him back to the fledgling town as a captive. It was then that the magnificent keep was rebuilt and renamed to serve as a cage for Numinex, whose head is said to still adorn the Great Hall.

As the girls walk under the gate, they see the gates of the hold with two guards posted up front. One of them approaches.

"Halt! City's closed with the dragons about. Official business only." He says.

"What?!" Dia exclaims. "Dude you had better let us in. do you know what we've been through?!" Dia goes to reach for her dagger, but Libby's hand places her hand over hers, stopping it.

"We come with a message. Riverwood calls for the Jarl's aid." Libby states.

"Riverwood's in danger too? You'd better go on in. You'll find the Jarl in Dragonsreach, at the top of the hill."

Libby gives Diamond a smug look, and Dia only avoids her gaze. The guards stand aside and let the girls pass through.

Whiterun is composed of three districts. The Plains District is the first district any visitor enters when in the city. It contains all the merchants, and the marketplace. The Wind District is where most of Whiterun's residential buildings, including the mead hall Jorrvaskr and the Gildergreen, are located. The Cloud District is the smallest of Whiterun's three districts.

They walk in, and Dia is instantly skittish with glee. A broad smile on her face as she bounces on the tips of her toes. Libby's never seen her this excited; her arms pressed to her sides and hands into fists, bouncing on her toes. Meanwhile Libby's been nearly all over Skyrim with the many jobs she takes for the Guild, so she's less than impressed, through Whiterun is one of her favorites. The Jarl stays out of the war, and everyone is prosperous if they're willing to work hard.

Which reminds her, the Drunken Huntsman is just up a small hill right when the walk in. also she needs to complete a few jobs for Vex to make up for the failed task in Helgen. She still doesn't know how the Guild will react.

"So listen Dia. Dia!" Libby calls. Diamond whirls around as she had skipped several paces ahead. Libby catches up to her. "Listen, I've got some extra jobs to do along with delivering the news to the Jarl. So, while I might regret it, do you want to go and look around?" she ask.

Dia smiles and gasps. "Yes! Yes! Yes! _Yes_!" she glops Libby in a hug and squeezes, squealing with happiness.

"Okay, okay." Libby laughs as she pushes Dia off. "Look, just look around, and don't get into _any_ trouble." She points at Dia as she explains. "The last thing I need is wasting my coin bailing you out of jail. Understand?"

"Yes." Dia wines. "Can I go?!"

Libby sighs and smiles. "Fine, go." She releases Diamond and she instantly runs into the Plain's District; completely ignoring Libby as she shouts. "Just promise you won't get -! . . . In trouble." Libby sighs.

"This isn't going to end well." She mumbles.

Libby then turns and heads her way through the district up to Dragonsreach. It is constructed in the ornate wooden style of the great Nord longhouses of ancient days. It is very much the focal point of the entire city itself. As is true of the keeps in other cities, Dragonsreach serves many important functions.

Libby walks past the one guard on patrol on the front porch and pushes through the huge double doors. They shriek on rusted hinges and echo throughout the hall when they close. The great hall is the main chamber of the keep and where the Jarl sits on his throne beyond the long tables and central fire pit. The shelves to the sides have all manners of books. There are balconies on the upper floor, from which you can peer down. The head of Numinex adorns the great hall above the Jarl's throne.

Walking up the steps, Libby gazes at the grandness of the hall. Built entirely of wood, the smell of smoke and food mixes together in the atmosphere. Atop the steps, the Jarl is speaking with his steward. From the way it sound, they were having a steaming debate, no doubt about the dragon attack.

As Libby approaches, she nearly misses the dark elf coming towards her, sword drawn. Libby instinctively steps back, placing her hand on her knife.

"What's the meaning of this interruption? Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors."

Libby can't stop herself from snarling. She manages to hear the steward mention Helgen's attack, and decides to change the matter of news needing to be delivered.

"I have news from Helgen. About the dragon attack." She says.

"You know about Helgen? The Jarl will want to speak with you personally. Approach." She then sheaths her sword and leads Libby to the throne. Libby keeps her head low as she mounts the steps to display innocence. After her failed burglary job, she's relieved that the news didn't spread fast.

"So, you were at Helgen? You saw this dragon with your own eyes?" Jarl Balgruuf asks.

Libby nods. "The dragon destroyed the entire town. My friend and I barely made it out."

"Shor's bones. This is most disturbing." He turns to his steward. "What do you say now, Proventus. Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?"

"My lord, we should send troops to Riverwod at once." The dark elf says. "It's in the most immediate danger, if that dragon is lurking in the mountains . . ."

"The Jarl of Falkreath will view that as a provocation!" Proventus interjects. "He'll assume we're preparing to join Ulfric's side an attack him. We should not -"

"Enough!" Jarl Balgruuf barks. "I'll not stand idly while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people!" he turns to the dark elf. "Irileth, send a detachment to Riverwood at once."

"Yes, my Jarl." Irileth says. Then she turns and leaves.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll return to my duties." Proventus says. His tone sounding of defeat.

"That would be best. " Jarl Balgruuf insists. As Proventus walks away, Jarl Bulgruuf turns to Libby. "Well done. You sought me out on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it."

A guard comes over and hands Libby steel armor.

"Here. Take this as a small token of my esteem." He says.

"Thank you, my Jarl." Libby smiles.

Libby then gives the Jarl her regards and turns to leave the palace.

Dia explores all the stands in the marketplace of Whiterun, and gazes at the bits and food and jewelry for sale. Around the stands are three stores, one being an inn called the Bannered Mare. Another shop is an apothecary shop called Arcadia's Cauldron, and a general goods store. Dia prances around the district until she wanders to the Wind District where the huge tree is the epicenter of it. Jorrvaskr, the home of the Companions, as she overheard the bartender at the Bannered Mare say, is the home of the Companions.

Dia can't see from whre she's standing, and while now wanting to trespass on property, she climbs the tree. She climbs as high as she dares to see, muscles burning. She is standing on a branch, hand gripping another one for balance, when she hears someone call.

She peers down and finds a guard waiting for her. "I'm not going to ask you again. Get down!"

Dia sneers. "Would you relax, man? It's just a tree."

"Get down, now!"

"I thought you weren't going to ask me again?" Dia mocks.

"That tree is hold sacred to the goddess Kynareth. And it is valuable to us. Now get down, or we will force you."

Dia is about to snap back whe she remembers about Libby telling her – or ordering her - to stay out of trouble. So she climbs down and hops to her feet. "There. Happy?"

"Now come with us." Says the guard.

"What?!"

"You've committed crimes against Skyrim and her people. What's says you in your defense?" the guard says.

"It's just a tree! I didn't know!"

"But you refused orders against the hold's law."

"Are you kidding me?!" Dia argues. Then two guards take her by the arms. "Hey! No! Let me go!"

Libby trudges down the steps from Dragonsreach, her mind searching for different strategies for how to obtain her goods. She was finishing an apple she picked from the food bowl on the tables in the palace, when she hears the shouts.

"Let me go! Buzz off!"

"Oh no." Libby groans. She dumps the apple into the river running through the palace and runs towards the steps where she sees two guards hauling Dia away.

"It's just a tree! What the hell?!" she screams.

Libby facepalms herself and runs after the guards. She's within arm's reach until one steps in her way. Libby halts instantly and jumps back.

"Halt citizen. Official Whiterun business. Move along." Says the guard.

"What happened?" Libby asks.

"Some smart-mouth citizen who thought she was above the law."

Libby groans. "Look that's my friend. Could you just -"

"Libby!" Dia calls. Relief and worry fills Dia just like when a parent finds out their child has done something wrong. "Libby! Look hey, that's my friend -"

Libby glares at her to stop, but Dia mouths to her: Help me. Libby in answer rolls her eyes. "Look, she's new to the city. She hasn't been here before. Can't you just, let it go?" Libby persuades.

"Why would I just let her weasel out of breaking the law? I know Thieves Guild armor when I see it. You're not fooling anyone." the guards asks, folding his arms.

Libby sighs. She leans in and whispers. "Look, since you know I'm with the Guild, can't you just, look the other way?"

Even with his helmet on, Libby could see the smile on his face. "I can make all her problems with the guards go away. For a price. What do you say?"

Libby purses her lip in a tight line. She respires. "How much?"

"Well her bounty would be, five gold. But I'll take ten for future, minor problems." He holds out his hand.

Libby look at his palm then to him. She then reaches behind her back to her one of many pockets on her belt. She pulls out a coin purse and bounces it in her hand. "Look, this has 650 gold to it. If she were to get into any other trouble, this clears all of her bounties, and you let her go. All except for murder. She's on her own." Libby negotiates. "Deal?"

The guards look to her, then takes the coin purse. "Done. Now move along, before you get me in trouble." He says.

Libby stands and folds her arms as she watches the guard approach the other who were just about to drag Dia up the steps into Dragonsreach.

"Let her go. Her bounty's been cleared." He says.

The guards look to Dia, then to him and Libby watches as he points to her and shows them the coin. Dia wrenches her arms away and dusts herself off. Libby can see her mumbling: You better let me go. That's right.

"Yeah, you better watch it, I have friends?" Dia says. She brushes off her chest and arms when one of the guards leans in.

"Psst. Hey I know who you are." He says. Dia turns to him with a confused look. "Hail Sithis!" he whispers.

Dia's eyes widen as he turns and follows the other two that are heading up the steps. She watches them until they get to the second landing then turns to find Libby with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face.

Dia nervously laughs. "Don't be mad."

"Are you kidding me, Dia?! I can't leave you alone for one hour?!"

"Oh shut up!" Dia waves off as she walks.

"Don't walk away from m! Dia!" Libby grabs her arms and yanks Dia aside. "Are you serious? You refused to listen to the guards?"

"It's just a tree!" Dia defends.

"Well that tree is sacred to them, just as death is to Sithis!" Libby is shouting now, and she can feel the anger swirling around inside her, violent and vicious and the strongest she's felt in days. "Did I not say, I didn't want to waste money on you?!"

Dia takes a deep breath. "How much was the bounty?" Dia asks.

"Five gold."

"Well then why the hell are you yelling at _me_?!" Dia barks back.

"Because I paid the guy 650 to clear you off any other stupid mistakes you'll probably make when in Whiterun! Everything but murder, you get caught for that, you're on your own!" Libby replies. "Honestly, I can't take you anywhere!"

"Stop yelling at me." Dia says quietly, and she finally has the decency to look down. "Just stop."

Dia used to see all kinds of things in her eyes, love and determination and curiosity, but now all she sees is anger. Dia's quiet voice stalls the anger inside Libby, and Libby relaxes into the wall behind her, shoving her hands into her pockets. She didn't mean to yell at Dia. She didn't mean to get angry at all.

Libby stares, shocked, as tears touch Dia's cheeks. Libby hasn't seen her cry in such a long time. Dia sniffs, and gulps, and tries to sound normal, but she doesn't.

"I . . . I don't know. I'm sorry." She says, choking on each word. "Okay?"

"Let's just get the carriage ride." Libby coldly says, turning away.

She heads down the steps without looking back to see if Dia will follow, because she knows she will. Dia wipes her cheeks with her palms and walks down after her. She watches Libby's black braid until they reach the Whiterun Stables.

As they climb into the carriage, Libby sits on one side, propping her feet up on the other. She pulls her hood over her head and rests her head back. Signaling she doesn't want to talk. Dia fiddles with her hands and settles with sharpening her knife.


	4. Chapter 4

Libby dumps a golden candelabrum with a bejeweled shaft, a silver horn with encrusted sapphires, and a silver dragonfly with diamond wings. The items lay scattered across the table with Vex inspecting each one for its validity. Libby takes the seat across from her, leaning back and crossing her arms.

"Not bad. Isn't it amazing what people just leave lying around for us to take?" Vex sarcastically asks. She tucks everything away, and when she looks to Libby, her smile vanishes and she folds her hands, resting her chin on her fingers. "Alright, out with it. What's up?"

Libby looks to her and heavily exhales. "It's, nothing."

"Bullshit it's nothing." Vex overlaps Libby just as she finishes. "What's the matter?"

Vex is an Imperial thief and is the Master Lockpick trainer and one of the Guild's best infiltrators. She is known as "our little Vex" by Delvin and Brynjolf, hinting at a softness for her. She is quite arrogant and sure of her abilities as she told Libby not even to think of replacing her and to follow whatever she says. And after completing a few jobs, the two soon became inseparable.

"I got the job done, so what does it matter. That's all anyone ever says. All that matters is how much gold I make the Guild." Libby snaps, springing up form he seat.

"Hold it!" Vex snaps, and Libby can feel Vex grip her arm. She wrenches Libby to face her. "What's the matter with you?! Jeez, I try to be a friend and you hiss at me like a Hagraven."

Libby sighs and relaxes her shoulders. With this Vex release her arm. "I'm sorry." Libby wipes her eyes with the heel of her hands before tears spill over. "It's just . . . something with Diamond."

"Oh, I get it." Vex says. "She muck something up again?" Vex crosses her arms.

"Yeah, and with my minimal days of sleep, and that dragon attack in Helgen, I just cracked and . . ."

"Hey, you don't have to go on. I get it. Sorry to hear that." Vex says.

"Thanks." Libby replies. "Um, I'll be, in my bed."

Libby then leaves the Flagon and enters the Cistern. After her initial screaming match with Diamond in Whiterun, the two were quiet the entire carriage ride. Libby had intentionally pulled her hood up so she wouldn't have to speak to Dia, despite that she apologized for her scene in the marketplace. And Libby has yet to apologize for her unreasonable shouting at Dia. She was upset, and will minimal days of sleep, something inside her snaps. She's surprised she didn't punch Dia.

Since the ride back to Riften, Dia jumped off and barely said goodbye before she paid the carriage man again to take her back to Falkreath. From there she can easily walk to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary. Libby felt a twinge of guilt as she was walking away, and a part of her wanted to stop her to apologize, but knowing Dia, she wouldn't really accept it; at least not yet. They both just needed time to cool off and sort everything out. Then if they ever decided to meet up again, they'd talk. Until then, Libby retreats into the Guild, doing jobs to keep herself busy.

The heart of the Guild is located in an underground headquarters called the Ragged Flagon – Cistern. It's a circular shaped room with a high domed ceiling and crossing bridges around its perimeter. Stretching across the diameter of the circle are stone crosswalks that connect to a circle at the center with the Guild logo. Each walkway takes you to different rooms of the Cistern. One leads to a side room with multiple chests used for lockpicking practice, the other to the main vault, another to the Ragged Flagon and one to the hidden entry under a small tomb next to the chapel.

Libby could not walk this Ratway Vaults the day of her initiation into the Guild. She remembers how she walked it then, her footsteps unsteady, searching for light. She walks it surefooted now. She doesn't need light anymore.

As she passes through the archway, she takes notice of the banner hanging on the wall with the Guild's symbol sewed into its material. A diamond with a circle inside it. A symbol that has saved her life many times over. A sign that makes her feel safe.

Throughout the Cistern, members practice their marksman training, eat some food, and sharpen their weapons. The Guild itself is an organized group of thieves that provides mutual support for the endeavors of its members. Members of the Thieves Guild are known for causing trouble in Riften. Their reputation has diminished, and the holds barely remember their name. Members of the guild specialize in stealing objects of varying value or loaning septims. Most citizens view them unfavorably, however, the Thieves Guild is known to recruit those gifted in the art of stealth. As the time continued, the Guild slipped further and further into obscurity and the members and regular clients began to leave.

Then when Brynjolf had adopted Libby into the family, the gold seemed to be easing its way back in. Brynjolf is currently the second-in-command at the Thieves Guild, below only Mercer Frey, the current Guildmaster.

Mercer is fairly pessimistic, irritable and always has this tone in his voice that makes you think you're annoying him merely by breathing. Despite his personality, he is Guild Master because of his skill. He is very sly and Libby believes he could sneak up an assassin. He wasn't too keen on Libby's joining, but she easily proved herself to him.

As she passes through, she brushes past another member and her favorite archery training partner, Niruin.

Niruin is a Bosmer thief. He is a highly skilled trainer of Archery. He's originally from Valenwood, where he worked at his father's winery. He was wealthy, had many friends, and was betrothed to a beautiful woman. However, he says the life was so dull. He secretly fell in with a gang called the Silver Crescents, but his father found out and gave him an ultimatum; leave Valenwood or go to jail. Niruin, who had made contact with Delvin Mallory asked to join the Guild and moved to Skyrim. He taught Libby everything she knows about marksmanship, along with several books she stole from the library at the Collage of Winterhold. If it weren't for him, Libby would despise the High Elves as much as the next ord. He grasps Libby's elbow as he passes. He leans in close.

"Left you a little surprise on your bed. Something to cheer you up." He whispers. Libby's face warms as she looks to him. "And remember, if you ever need more practice with the bow, just grab me." He smiles and leaves to go over by the grindstone to sharpen a dagger.

Libby can't fight the smile on her lips; due more to the thought of the surprise rather than Niruin's gesture. She tries to ignore the urge to rush to her bed, and instead walks across the stone bridge to Rune.

As a child, Rune washed up on shore after a shipwreck near Solitude, and was found by a local fisherman. He recall his past, but the fisherman found a rock with strange writing on it. The fisherman named him Rune and raised him, but he later left to discover his past. He admitted to Libby that most of the coin he makes working for the Guild has been spent in vain trying to uncover his past.

He's also the one who told Libby that if she ever needed to talk, she could come to him. Brynjolf is her first choice, as normal, but he was busy and promised they'd speak another time.

Libby twiddles with the end of her braid as she approaches. "Rune." She says.

"Ah, my sister in crime." Rune smiles. "Something I can help with, or do you just want to talk?"

"A little bit of both." Libby nervously smiles. When Rune gives her a confused look, she motions over to the training room. Rune nods and follows.

When they enter, Libby goes to take a seat on one of the hay stacks uplifting one of the standard targets for archery training. Rune takes a seat on one of the chests set by Vipir for lockpicking practice he folds his arms and waits for Libby to say something.

Libby can only fidget with her fingers as she tries to figure out how to start. The while Guild knows the gist of the story; about the dragon attack on Helgen – thankfully the news had already spread to Riften by the time Libby and Diamond arrived back. Brynjolf was surprisingly grateful that they had survived; especially Libby. Apart from Vex, they don't know about the argument between the two, but Libby was assured they at least had their suspicions.

So Libby decides to start after they arrived in Whiterun. About how she let Diamond run loose while she delivered the new of Riverwood needing the jarl's help. Rune nods and Libby has to fight back a smile as he's giving her his full attention.

"So then I come out, and there are at least three guards hauling her to the dungeon. She climbed the Gildergreen tree at the center of the Cloud District. Now okay she's new to the city, so it's an honest mistake." Libby folds her legs and rests her elbows on her knees. "But then she refused to listen to the guards after they told her to get down, and that it's sacred to Kynareth!"

Rune chuckles and covers his mouth to try and hide his smile.

"So I run over to the guards and, thankfully managed to talk them into letting her go."

"Was there a bounty?" Rune asks. Libby nods. "How much?"

"Just five gold, and the guard said he'd let her off in the future for ten. So I ended up paying 650 gold to clear any crimes she commits in the future. Except for murder." Libby explains.

"You really think Diamond could get into that much trouble?" Rune asks. Libby quirks an eyebrow at Rune. "I heard it." He says, realizing the obvious answer to his question. "So what then?"

"So apologize, but I was so mad, I guess I didn't except it. We were silent the whole carriage ride." Libby says.

"Wow."

"So now what should I do?" Libby asks. "I mean, I know it was wrong of me to yell at her, but at the same time, I guess she just deserved it." Libby explains.

"How so?" Rune asks.

"Because she did the exact same thing several times before." Libby answers. "And not just the holds, sometimes the towns as well. And every time, I had to bail her stubborn butt out of it. Sometimes I feel like she does it just because she knows I'll bail her out."

"Libby, Diamond is sixteen. You are nineteen." Rune says softly. "She's still young."

"She's old enough to ride a horse, Rune." Libby counters, crossing her arms. "She should at least try to act her age."

Rune sighs and stares at the floor for a moment; as if contemplating what to say next. "Libby, how old were you when you first became part of the Guild?" he suddenly asks.

Libby looks to him bewildered by the sudden off-guard question. "Um, I was nine, but didn't start until I was . . . sixteen." She pauses, and then quickly recovers. "But I still got the gist. We don't even have valid rules and I'm still more mature than her."

"Exactly." Rune says. "You're more mature. You were indoctrinated into thieving at the age of nine. You grew up in an adult-world. And not that Diamond didn't with the Brotherhood, but I feel like you forced yourself to mature."

"What's that mean?"

"The Guild is pretty tough. As shown by Sapphire, Vex and Tonilia. Yet they have every reason to be. They've earned their spots and respect. Plus, apart from you, they're the only women in the Guild."

"What's the point?"

"They needed to act tough so that Delvin and the others wouldn't treat them like they needed help with everything, and just being treated like they were weaker. Also to earn respect. And I think you unknowingly proclaimed them as role models and inherited that kind of behavior." Run explains.

Libby goes quiet and bites the inside of her lip. What Rune is saying does make sense. After Libby's father were killed, she wandered the wilds armed with only a hunting bow and dagger she stole from the Khajiit Caravans. She could only hunt small mammals and fish, but on a bright side it helped to master her marksmanship. Then she wandered into Riften, she met Brynjolf, and that was that. If it weren't for Brynjolf or even Rune showing some softness, Libby would probably be as bitchy as Vex or Tonilia; maybe even more.

Libby sighs. "So what do I do?"

"I think you should apologize. You two have been through so much. This argument shouldn't make much of a difference. You two do fight a lot."

"Is that healthy?" Libby questions.

"Friends that fight are said to be more trusting. So I've heard." Rune answers.

Libby sighs and rubs her eyes with the heels of her hands. "So how do get her to come? I doubt she'll want to go another job with me."

"Maybe Vex could loan a job to you both. Two separate jobs, but in the same city." Rune suggests. "Or, you could take the chance and ask her. If you contact her, then no doubt she'll assume you're apologizing."

"I guess. I mean, I guess I'm just worried she won't accept it." Libby says.

"I'm sure she will. If you look at it from each other's perspective." Says Rune.

"I'll have to think about it." Libby finalizes.

They leave the training room and nearly half the Guild is asleep except for Mercer and Brynjolf talking at Mercer's desk. They talk back and forth and Libby walks by with her head down, not wanting to eavesdrop. She makes her way to her bed and is surprised to see a rectangular case sprawls across it. Her heart pounds rapidly and her hands shake as she examines a tall rectangular case. Judging from the heaviness, it had to be expensive. Probably straight from the Empire's best armory. Libby can't help or stop the wide smile on her face as she undoes the latches along one side.

The top opens on silent hinges. Inside, the case, on a bed of crushed maroon velvet, lies a stunning black and red bow. Libby gasps in admiration. She lifts it carefully into the air to admire the exquisite balance, the elegant design, and the curve of the limbs. It had the Recurve design in which the tips curve away from the archer when the bow is strung. True to its predecessors from the Daedra, the bow's design is demonic in appearance with several spikes protruding from various parts of the body. Delicate lines of red strive along the limbs, the color matching that of crimson blood.

Libby is astonished to be holding such a beautiful and deadly weapon in her hands. They even begin to shake, and she only grips it tighter. There's something else. Libby has to hold very still to make sure she's not imagining it. No, the bow is alive in her hands. She presses it against her cheek and feels the slight hum travel through the bones of her face.

She sets the bow on the ground close to her as she crouches and examines the case further. Surely enough, under the velvet, there's a small note, along with three sets of twenty –four arrows. Libby pulls out the arrows and sets the note briefly aside. These arrows, much like other bow, are black with red vein-like protrusions. Though these arrow seem to be made of some sort of ebony steel and have a double-pronged arrow head.

Libby keeps the two propped against her headboard and settles on the soft pelts; the hay crunching underneath her weight. She knows within five seconds of shutting her eyes that she can't sleep.

Her mind constantly buzzes with ways to apologize, each one sounding more stupid than the last. Libby sits up and crosses her legs.

She pulls open the drawer to her end table and takes out a book titled: The Shadowmarks. It's a detailed book written by Delvin to give the Guild members hints on what place is worth stealing, when there's danger and even how to escape jail. Libby learned a few of the important ones, but rereads the book to occupy her mind. After thirty minutes, she tosses the book aside and shoves her feet into her boots. Snatching her bow, she heads into the training room.

Libby then spends the next three hours picking locks, fighting dummies and shooting arrows at targets. Beads of sweat materialize on her forehead and stream down into her eyebrows. Her hands burn and her left forearm is beginning to blister. Only after Libby shoots the last of her arrows does she feel a pain in her arm, like someone stabbed it.

Rolling up her sleeve, she hisses through her teeth, and her arm reveals red, blistered skin; some of the blisters bleeding. Her arm radiates heat like a flame and burns when it's the same arm that got scarred from Helgen. The slightest touch sends her skin prickling and pain stings her every fibers.

"Need some help with that, lass?" a voice says.

Libby looks in the doorway and finds Brynjolf leaning against the wall. She gives him an awkward smile as he treks through the field of broken lockpicks, hay guts, and snapped arrows.

"Little intense training there, eh lass?" he says.

"I couldn't sleep. Helps me think." Libby retorts.

Brynjolf leads her to the table set near the back of the room. Libby sits in one chair while he trifles through the cupboard for a salve to treat her burns. He comes back with a small flat, silver container. Twisting the top off, inside is a pale green cream. Brynjolf dips his fingers in and scoops up a decent amount, then lathers it along Libby's forearm.

After hissing from its sting, Libby sighs as the cream begins to soothe her skin and reduces the pain to a dull throb. It then leaves behind a cooling sensation. Brynjolf then finishes by wrapping fresh gauze around her forearm and tugs her sleeve back down.

"Thanks." Libby mumbles.

"So, why are you up so late?" Brynjolf asks.

"I was about to go to bed, but Niruin got me a Daedric bow. I wanted to try it out." Libby lies.

"That would be believable if you had looked me in the eye lass." Says Brynjolf. Libby then realizes that she's staring at the floor. "Plus, I've known about the bow, and I imagined you'd be bouncing off the walls of the Guild at the sight of it."

"I am excited! I love it really." Libby defends.

"Now that I believe. And, now that it's later, perhaps we can talk now?"

Libby smiles as Brynjolf pulls up a chair next to her and leans back in a comfortable position. She exhales deeply, and retells the story as she told Rune. Same as before, Brynjolf nods and gives her his full attention. His eyebrows raise and he strokes his chin as Libby finishes to where she and Diamond didn't speak on the carriage ride.

"Wow, sounds like she finally cracked you." Brynjolf concludes. Libby looks to him and then back down at the floor. She braises her fingers over her forearm and pokes at it. Brynjolf smacks her arm away. "Stop that."

"So what do I do?" Libby asks.

"Well I do think you need to apologize, simply for the fact that you were wrong to yell at her." He concludes.

"That's fair." Libby agrees. "But what if she doesn't accept it?"

"She will, Libby. Don't be so paranoid. You two survived Helgen together. There's no way she's going to let you go now."

"Plus, she's far too valuable to the Guild politically as she Guild is for the Brotherhood." Libby adds. She's about to get up, when Brynjolf sighs and takes her elbow.

"Libby, you need to stop that." He says pulling her back down.

"What?"

"Look, I know you've been in the Guild your whole life, and you haven't been around the most, loose of people. But Diamond, she's your friend. Not just a business partner."

"I know that."

"No you don't. While it wasn't intentional, you've picked up that weird habit of associating everything with the Guild." Brynjolf explains.

"Well if the Guild is struggling, then that should be my focus." Libby counters.

"It can be a priority, yes, but it doesn't have to be your _only_ priority." Brynjolf says. "The Guild can rebuild over time. You can't simply reverse our situation within a week. It takes time. And I don't want you to burden yourself with the weight all by yourself. This is a group effort. Do you understand, lass?"

Libby swallows and nods. A strange feeling in her chest catches her attention, and after Brynjolf leaves and she's pried her arrows from the targets, does it clarify as relief. The Guild has been struggling for years, and she really can't fix it in a week, not even a month. Now it seems everything makes sense as to what Rune was saying.

Everything Libby would do, all the people she'd talk to and all the situations she's in, she always finds the means to associate it with the Guild's success. She'd look for ways to benefit the Guild, ignoring every other conceivable method and feeling of others. Including Diamond. But perhaps now that Brynjolf has somewhat lifted the burden, she could focus on mending her bond with Diamond.

* * *

West from Falkreath and just southeast is a small, underground settlement. Outside is a mysterious door displaying a carving of a skull, with a bloody handprint signifying The Dark Brotherhood emblazoned on it. Most of the actual sanctuary is an Ancient Nordic Ruin, but also consists part of a cave network with multiple rooms.

The Dark Brotherhood is an organization of highly trained assassins who carry out assassination contracts. The Dark Brotherhood is called upon by those who wish to utilize their deadly services through a ritual called "The Black Sacrament". They say the only way to join the Brotherhood is to be contacted directly, and the group of shadowy assassins is very selective in its recruiting. They used to follow a set of rules called The Five Tenets, which set the ground rules for the Brotherhood, but those tenets have long since been abandoned.

Now, in the only sanctuary Diamond's ever known, she lays on her bed, facing the blank ceiling. Rocks with moss and vines dangling above her, threatening to drop on her. She always used to hate sleeping underground, always afraid the cave would collapse, but if it withheld all those other years, what difference would it be now?

After her argument with Libby, she barely waved goodbye as Libby hopped off the carriage and enter Riften. Libby barely turned around. The rest of the ride, Diamond occupied herself by speaking with the driver and sharpening her blades. Upon entering Falkreath, she waved off to the driver and continued the path to the Sanctuary. She told the members her story, and instead of laughing, they only confirmed it when they talk about a dragon attacking Falkreath. Diamond then escaped to her room - since Nazir didn't have any available contracts – and flopped onto her bed, riddled with exhaustion. Even after a three hour sleep, her mind is still troubled.

Sauntering off her bed, she walks out to the Lis's nest. Lis is the Brotherhood's pet Frostbite Spider. She is owned by Gabriella. In her lair is the skeleton of Gaston Bellefort, who, according to his journal, was spying on the Dark Brotherhood and thought himself unnoticed.

Diamond's so distracted, that she didn't notice the signs. Nobody was around, and disembodied voices come from the room ahead. Diamond walks down the steps and into the main chamber where the other members are gathered around a jester and a tall wooden box.

"But the Night Mother is mother to all! It is her voice we follow! Her will!" the jester speaks. "Would you dare risk disobedience? And surely . . . punishment?"

Diamond is about to speak to Astrid, but she's busy speaking with the jester.

Arnbjorn, Astrid's stubborn husband as well, as a werewolf, says. "Keep talking, little man, and we'll see who gets punished."

He is an ex-member of the Companions. He was asked to leave because his "unorthodox" methods were offensive to other members. It is unclear what these methods were or how they were offensive. He joined The Circle and became a werewolf prior to his banishment.

Festus Krex, the elder of the Brotherhood, interjects. "Oh, be quiet you great lumbering lapdog. The man has had a long journey. You can at least be civil." He snaps. "Mister Cicero, I for one am delighted you and the Night Mother have arrived. Your presence here signals a welcome return to tradition."

Festis' weapon of choice for contracts is magic, stating that "there is a spell for every circumstance." He is the self-described "cranky old uncle who nobody talks to" of the Dark Brotherhood. When asked about himself, he says he was a child prodigy. He went on to teach at the College of Winterhold for two years, but left due to none of the mages there "truly appreciating the Destruction school." This led him to join the Dark Brotherhood.

When Diamond asked for help about a contract from Nazir, he says that methods used today are overrated.

"Oh what a kind and wise wizard you are. Sure to earn our lady's favor." Cicero says.

Cicero.

Astrid told Diamond about him when she first entered the Brotherhood.

Cicero, one of two remaining Dark Brotherhood assassins outside of Skyrim, took the Night Mother's corpse to the last remaining Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary.

Cicero is an annoying jester and the keeper of the Night Mother's coffin. Widely regarded as bothersome, obnoxious, strange, and mad, Cicero sports flamboyant attire and speaks with a high-pitched voice. Because he seemingly speaks to he is considered insane. As Keeper of the Night Mother, Cicero takes his vocation very seriously, willing to wound and kill anyone who questions or ignores the Night Mother's authority, although he was not always like this.

"You and the Night Mother are of course welcome here, Cicero. And you will be afforded the respect deserving of your position as Keeper." Astrid says. "Understood . . . husband?"

"Hmph."

"Oh, yes, yes, yes! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cicero says.

"But make no mistake. I am the leader of this Sanctuary. My word is law. Are we clear on that point?" Astrid states.

"Oh, yes mistress. Perfectly! You're the boss."

Once the members disperse, Dia approaches Astrid. "Hey, Astrid?"

"Ah, there you are Diamond. Good, I was done speaking with that muttering fool anyway. How was Riften?" Astrid asks.

"I didn't go in." Diamond says.

"Oh? Why not? I figured your stall time was because you were visiting Libby." Astrid says.

"We got into an argument. I'd rather not talk about it." Diamond disclaims.

"Very well, but I need you to come close, I have some . . . important news to deliver." Astrid cryptically says. "Members! Gather around."

Diamond slinks next to Gabriella as the other members file in while Cicero moves the wooden box.

"I've been going over some current events, and well . . . I'm afraid I have some, disturbing news." Astrid announces. She pauses and makes sure to make eye contact with each member. "It seems that there's another group out there, taking up our clients and slandering out name."

Diamond feels her heart jar in her chest and a flash of heat travels through her body, when passing leaves her body crawling with goosebumps.

"Wh-what do you mean, "New group?" Diamond asks.

"I mean that they've recently settled in Skyrim and are already stealing more contracts." Astrid answers. "They call themselves "The Faceless. They're an organization of, as far as I know, only women. And apparently, they're very good at what they're doing."

"Do you believe they could be a potential threat?" Nazir asks.

"I'm still debating on that." Astrid says.

Arnbjorn growls. "I say we find out where they are, and destroy their sanctuary. Show them that Skyrim is _our_ territory."

"Now hold on Arnbjorn," Gabriella speaks. "We don't want to make potential enemies if we don't have the whole story."

"What more is there? They're an assassination group stealing our clients and making Skyrim who we are. That's more than enemy territory to me." He snarls.

"But what if we attack, and they retaliate? If they're as good as everyone says, we could possibly be in over our heads." Gabriella says.

"So you're saying we don't stand a chance?" he challenges.

"I'm merely suggest we try a more, indirect app -"

"Silence!" Astrid chimes. "Arnbjorn, I understand Gabriella's point. We don't want to barge in there attacking if we don't have full detail about our new . . . competition. We need to find out more about them and see if they're willing to make an alliance; maybe even conjoin our organizations."

"What we know about our enemy is dangerous to him, what we think we know is dangerous to us." Frex quotes.

"You wish for us to, ally with them?" Arnbjorn questions.

"Only if we feel we'd be better with them. If we can join our organizations, the fear that would travel would be, incredible. They will fear us more than before.

"And what if they don't?" Veezara asks, the Argonian member of the Brotherhood.

"Well, then we simply find out all we can, and take them down. Make them regret breaking a deal with us." Astrid answers with a cocky smile. "Until then, make friends, if not, show them how merciless we can be. Dismissed."

The other members scatter around the sanctuary and Diamond about to go back to her bed when Astrid calls.

"Diamond, come here."

"Oh! This close to being through the door and in bed with my cookie." She murmurs as she approaches Astrid.

"I've got something to take your mind off your troubles. Or at least busy it." Astrid says.

"Do you have a contract for me?"

"I do indeed." Astrid answers. "You must go to the city of Markarth, and speak with an apothecary's assistant. You'll find her at the Hag's Cure, when the stop is open."

"Okay."

"The girl's been running her mouth, wants an ex-lover killed. She's apparently performed the Black Sacrament." Astrid explains. "Her name is Muiri. I need you to talk to her, set up the contact, and carry it out."

"Anything else?" Diamond asks.

"Just do whatever the contact wishes. Be professional, represent us well, as you always do, and get the job done."

"She'll be generous, I'm sure?" Dia smiles.

"They always are. And just in case you're still bothered, I'll let you keep whatever Muiri pays. Treat yourself to something nice." Astrid winks then walks away to her office.

Markarth. The city of stone. Diamond was only there once, and barely remembers how to get there. And all it's history she somehow managed to remember from a trip she and Libby took to the College of Winterhold.

While Diamond has traveled to smaller towns on her own, she usually goes with Libby to the major holds since Libby has been all over. And with their recent fight, Diamond doubts Libby would want to come along. The thought of going alone both excites and frightens her. Libby usually can weasel her way out of things, and without her there, Diamond will have to watch what she says and acts. Her excuse of being new to the city can't last forever.

From what Libby has told Diamond in the past, the city is located in the far west of Skyrim, in the mountains of The Reach, west of the Karth River. As a result the city has a good natural defense, even from the skies. Being a long distance from any other major city and with both main roads cutting through mountains, valleys and rugged terrain, traveling to and from Markarth is one of the most treacherous trips for travelers.

Diamond sighs and gathers her weapons, and after checking the information Astrid gave her, she heads out of the Sanctuary.

* * *

"She's headed for Markarth!" Vex calls as she enters the Cistern.

Libby was talking to Cynric as Vex enters with a sheet of paper. "What?" Libby says.

"Diamond. She just got a contract to head to Markarth. She's headed there now. Supposedly by carriage ride." Vex explains.

"Oh jeez." Libby hisses. "She's never been there before. And that place is not friendly to outsiders. One wrong word from her and her blood will be flowing with the river and silver."

"Or maybe because you're fighting she'll actually behave." Cynric says.

"Let's not get crazy here Cynric. I need you to focus." Libby retorts.

Before joining the Guild, Cynric was a jailbreaker. In other words, he would be hired by a client to get arrested, and would either break the target prisoner out of jail or kill them. Unfortunately, during one such job, Cynric was caught, and spent three years in a High Rock prison before he was released. He promised himself that he would never do hard time again, and thus joined the Guild.

"I've got to get out there." Libby says.

"We've still got a toe left of the foothold we had before. They should recognize you, but you'll need to pay off the guards." Vex informs.

"What else is new." Libby mumbles. "Alright. I'm heading out."

"Be careful." Cynric says as Libby slings her quiver on her back. "The Forsworn have been attacking the city. Stay sharp."

Libby smiles and nods before she slings her bow over her back and exits the Guild.


	5. Chapter 5

Diamond tips off the carriage driver as she arrives at the Markarth Stables, just outside the city. The owner brushes a black horse while a dog barks and nibbles on the antler of a deer.

Tugging at her cloak, Diamond flicks the hood to make sure that it conceals her cowl and armor of the Brotherhood. She adjusts her mask so that it's shadowed under her hood.

It was around ten o'clock in the evening when Diamond left the Sanctuary, now, the sun has risen; casting a golden curtain of light that glimmers the stones and halos the large golden gate doors. Judging from its position, it was noon. Diamond wraps her cloak around herself; fisting it in her hands as she passes the two guards posted at the gate.

"Halt outsider!"

Diamond bites her tongue and slips her hand to her dagger. She forces herself to give a look of confusion and panic as to appear innocent.

"Yes?" she cleverly makes her voice shake; mimicking that of a young girl, afraid that she's gotten into trouble. The guard approaches.

"You're clearly new here, so I'll give you a forewarning. Markarth doesn't take kindly to outsiders; what with the Forsworn out in the Reach." He says. "Cause any trouble, and I'll haul you down to Cidhna Mine myself."

Cidhna Mine is a prison in Markarth. It is run by the Silver-Blood Family who use prisoners to mine the silver ore inside. It is also home to Madanach, the King in Rags and leader of the Forsworn Rebellion. It is commonly referred to as the most secure prison in Skyrim

Diamond nods and gives a weary smile before pushing open the gates. As she walks through, she carries a smug smile on her face.

_Take that Libby_ she thinks.

Stories tell that Markarth was built entirely out of stone and by elves; though that was merely rumors. As Diamond enters, those stories of the city of stone rein true. Her mouth agapes in awe.

The stone buildings tower around her and down the hill is a smelter work. Right as she walks in, there's a small stand that sells bloody meat, another selling jewelry. The city is split by a large running river and comprises two parts: Riverside, where the native reachmen and the working district are found; and the Dryside, housing all the houses of Nord nobles and Silver-Blood ownership. The Jarl's palace, Understone Keep, is located at the top of the city and contains the Hall of the Dead, the Dwemer Museum, and the Nchuand-Zel Excavation Site where the internal part of the old Dwemer city remains in ruins.

Most of the city's residents tend to be quite unfriendly to outsiders.

As Diamond fully steps through the gates, she watches as a man who was at the meat stand draw a dagger. He approaches a woman talking at the jewelry stand.

"Hey!" Diamond shouts. Her hand slipped into her belt, where dozens of slender daggers were clipped tight, designed more for throwing than for wielding in melee. She throws her dagger and it embeds in his thigh. He screams and the townspeople scatter, screaming. The shadows might not be a second skin to her, and silence only a loose friend unlike Libby, but when it comes to throwing the blade, she knew of no one better.

"For the Forsworn!" the man screams.

He charges forward, faster than Dia thought with the dagger in his leg.

"By the gods! The Forsworn are here in the city!" someone cries.

The man is still weak, which made it easier for Diamond to swerve out of the way. She grabs his opposite arm and spins him to his back is to her and keeps her arm around his neck. She drives the blade through his chest. She waits after he gurgles blood and he slumps does she pry her dagger loose.

The guards suddenly swarm, and she briefly braces herself for them to grab her arms, but they only usher her back and surround the body. "We'll take it from here, move along." He says.

"What was that about?" Diamond asks. "That man shouted something about the "Fosworn."

"I said move along. The Forsworn are just a bunch of madmen." He says.

"Stand back, the Markarth city guard have this all under control!" The second guard says. He stands in her way so she can't get closer.

"I just saved a woman's life and you're going to -!" Diamond stops herself, and exhales deeply. "You know what, fine. Fine!" she snaps. She makes sure to glare at the guards as she walks away. She manages to loots hi body for five gold and three lockpicks. Diamond spots the woman the man was attacking and approaches her.

Another woman says, "He, he tried to kill Margret. Right in front of me."

The woman notices her. "By the gods, that man nearly killed me. You saved my life. Thank you."

"No problem. Margret, is it?" Diamond asks.

"Yes."

"Why was that man after you?"

"I, I don't know. I just came out here to buy my sister back in Cyrodiil a necklace." Margret says. "Here, I was going to bring this to my sister, but I think you should have it."

Margret hands Diamond two silver rings and an amethyst necklace. Diamond was hoping for gold, but she doesn't say much. Instead she smiles and asks Margret if she's okay.

"I'll be fine, but I think I'll stay inside for a while." Margret crosses her arms as a form of self-embrace to calm herself. "Thank you again."

Diamond smiles. "Not a problem."

_Now, I have a job to do._

Diamond begins navigates her way around the city. She asks a city guard where the Hag's Cure is, and points her to a hidden doorway located within the southern part of Markarth near the Markarth Ruins, and Cidhna Mine. It was up a steep staircase, and it was near the chasm of water where a fall starts, spraying mist atop the shop.

Diamond climbs after it, the fingers of her hand sliding along the stone wall. Her eyes focused on the shop. After another short, silent spurt of stairs, she reached the second floor landing, which gave way to a bird's eye view of the smelter workers. She traipsed higher yet. She reaches yet another tiny landing. She rounds one final corner. With an internal groan, she saw that here, the next staircase, set slightly apart, seemed to slant more steeply and grow even more narrow, the individual steps themselves somehow thicker and taller. This staircase reached up toward a single narrow door. The burn in her thighs intensifies as she climbs again.

Reaching the top of the stairs, she leans against the wall and heaves through her mouth. "This pay had better be worth it." She hisses through breaths. She pushes the door inward and enters the shop.

Down back in the marketplace, the gates open again. In steps Libby with her own cloak wrapped closely to her body. She steps in and sees the gathering of guards and a small crowd of citizens gathered. She weaves her way through up front where she finds the body of a man.

"Gods . . . what happened?" she asks.

"This man tried to attack a woman in the market." A guard responds.

"In broad daylight? What is he stupid?"

"No, just a pawn of the Forsworn. Which are a group of madmen, arguably." The guard says.

"Glad you stopped him." Libby smiles.

"Actually, it wasn't us. Some kind-hearted citizen managed to stop the man before he could murder the woman."

"Oh, who?" Libby make sure to bat her eyes, to show a sense of intrigue.

"Some outsider. Go figure. Had a belt of daggers on her. Flung them rather professionally. Never seen such lethal throws. Always on target." The guard describes.

Libby goes rigid and a pinch of confusion mixes with shock. "Do, do you remember what she was wearing?"

"I couldn't tell much. Just a black cloak. And the belt of daggers." The guard says.

"Huh." _Diamond? Saved a bystander? _

"I'm afraid you'll have to stand back, ma'am. Official guard business." The guard says.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Libby says. The guard nods as Libby steps back, but into another approaching guard. "Oh, sorry."

"Favor the bow eh? I'm a sword man myself. If you want more weapons, you should go see Ghorza gra-Bagol. The Orc up at the forge."

"Oh, did you see where that cloaked woman went? The one who saved that woman?" Libby asks.

"I believe she was asking around for the Hag's Cure." The guard replies.

"Thank you." Libby says and turns away.

A contract. Of course. Diamond would never come here on her own free will. Well she would, but she would bring Libby along. Libby can't get involved with her business, and given Diamond did come here, no doubt her dark mistress Astrid assigned it. So Libby decides to head into the Silver-Blood Inn and wait it out. Diamond was bound to come here after her contract. So Libby heads on in.

"Come in, come!" the owner greets. A Nord citizen named Klepper. "The Silver-Blood Inn has plenty of strong drink and clean rooms."

While Libby isn't the gossipy kind of person, picking up rumors could lead to potential missions and information worth feeding to the Guild. And despite Brynjolf saying she should stop that habit, Diamond is busy, so there's really no harm. Libby sits at the bar. Then Klepper calls to his wife, Frabbi, rather insultingly to attend to her. Frabbi bickers back and Libby's a little intimidated as she approaches.

"Unlike my husband Kleppr, I watch after our guests." She says. "I'm Frabbi."

"I heard." Libby smiles. "So, what's the word around town?"

The entrance of the Hag's Cure leads Diamond into a narrow hallway before down a few steps into the shop's main chamber. She spots the main proprietor behind the desk as usual, and a woman at the alchemy lab.

Jackpot.

Diamond makes her way down the steps, gives the woman behind the counter a smile and nod. She pretends to occupy herself by browsing the shelving, until Muiri leaves the lab and enters a small bed chamber with three beds in a semicircle against the wall.

As she sits on the bed for a drink, Dia approaches and cocks her head.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asks nervously.

Dia leans in and whispers. "The Dark Brotherhood has come, Muiri."

"The Dark Brotherh . . . Oh. Oh! I . . . my goodness, you're really here! The Black Sacrament. It actually worked?" she stutters, rather excitedly.

"Obviously. Now tell me what you need." Diamond demands. It feels so good to finally be herself.

"What I need?" Muiri seethes. "What I need is for Alain Dufont to die! I want him hunted down and murdered like the dog he is!"

Dia has to shush her because her voice was rising. Muiri's voice shakes, but Diamond know that it's not from tears, but from anger that mutates from the hurt and sadness.

"By Sithis, I need details. Get to the point." Dia snaps her fingers.

"I didn't know it when we were . . . with each other . . . but Alain is actually the leader of a band of cutthroats. Bandits. They _were_ holed up in some old dwarven ruin – Raldbthar. It's near Windhelm. They used it as their base. It's where they staged their raids."

"You said _were_." Diamond reminds.

"I've heard they recently set up hold here, in Markarth. At the Silver-Blood Inn. I want you to go there and kill him. He's alone, so I don't care how you do it. Publically or when he's sleeping, he just has to die!" Muiri exclaims.

"It will be done." Dia promises.

"Excellent. Once Alain is dead, I'll pay you. In gold. I saved up a bit. I hope that'll do. But, well . . . There is one more thing. If you're interested?"

"I'm listening."

"If you can . . . I want you to kill someone else, as well. You don't have to – not as part of our deal. But if you do . . . I'll pay you even more." Muiri persuades. "It's Nilsine Shatter-Shield, in Windhelm. If Nilsine dies, too . . . I'll make it worth your while."

Diamond nods. "Is there anything else?"

"I planned to kill Alain myself, you know. Nilsine, too. But lost my nerve. I even brewed a special poison, Lotus Extract. Maybe, you could use it?" Muiri says.

She hands Diamond a square gold-colored vial with a tag tied to its neck.

"Just coat your weapon with it. Then . . . you get the idea. Make them all pay for what they've done to me."

Dia nods and turns to leave the apothecary shop. She goes over the options in her head and decides it would be better to travel to Windhelm and exterminate Nilsine. The journey will take at least a day. But with the time zone difference, and hopefully if Alain doesn't decide to go anywhere, she can make it back by nightfall and slaughter him too.

From what Muiri told Diamond, at some point, he heard about the murder of Friga Shatter-Shield and headed to Windhelm, hoping to swindle money from Friga's relatives. At the Candlehearth Hall in Windhelm, he met Muiri. Wanting to exploit Muiri's connections to the Shatter-Shield family, he romanced her. He robbed the Shatter-Shields, who blamed the event on Muiri. After the deed was done, Alain left her and went into hiding in the Dwemer ruins of Raldbthar.

She would now be going to another major hold without Libby. But the fact that she's there strictly on business and not to sight-see, is all the motivation Diamond needs.

"Off to Windhelm." She speaks. Then heads for the gates.

Meanwhile, at the Silver-Blood Inn, Libby has rented a room for the day. With the bed being made of stone, and broad daylight out, she wandered around the town, familiarizing herself with any residential homes as well as the guards' schedule. She completed the jobs Vex and Delvin assigned her, and was now left with nothing to do while she waits for Diamond.

She now sits around the fire with a lute she picked up from another room. No one seemed to mind, and after a little tuning, she plays the song "Tale of Tongues." With the aid of the bard that works there, they sang the song with such harmonies and layers that it motivated the guests to raise a toast and order more rounds of mead. As the debauchery begins to settle in, Libby sets aside the lute and retreats into her room; shutting the door.

As she unbraids her hair and strips out of her rope when she hears footsteps behind her. There's a knock on her door, and it opens the next second. Libby whirls around, closing her robe tight, and snatching her dagger. She raises it and points it ahead. A man raises his hands, palms up.

"Easy, easy." He says.

Libby sighs and plops the dagger on her stand.

"You play well." He says.

"I learned from a friend." Libby says plainly. She sits at her desk in her room and pulls out her journal she keeps with her.

"Ah. So you have any other talents?" the man asks.

Libby pauses her writing and looks to the man as he enters her room and sits on her bed.

"Did I say you could come in?" she snaps.

The man only shrugs his shoulders. Libby stares at him, examining him. He doesn't seem to notice, instead, he only winks and smiles. Libby rolls her eyes and gathers her journal then heads back out to the fire. She sits in a chair, brings her knees to her chest and starts to write again. A minute later, she hears another chair drag against the stone floor, a high-pitched squeal of distress. The man sits next to her again.

Libby doesn't even look to him. "Something you need, or are you just trying to annoy me?"

"Can't a man make conversation with an attractive young woman?" he smiles.

"Keep the word, _young_ in mind." Libby snaps, keeping her gaze on her writing.

"You sure have a spirit in you." The man says. Then Libby nearly flinches when she sees fingers curl around the top of her journal and bring it down. The man stands I front of her, a predatory gleam in his eyes. "I like that."

"Then find it in someone else." Libby snarls, but a small smile creeps on her lips.

"How about I get you a drink?" the man winks.

"If it'll get you to leave me alone, fine." Libby submits. The man smiles and pats the arm of Libby's chair. He orders two mead drinks, and as Klepper serves them, Libby asks. "What's your name?"

The man looks to her and grins. He leans settles in the chair next to her and raises his glass. "Alain Dufont."

* * *

Windhelm is a city located in northeastern region of Skyrim. The city is an imposing sight with its massive ice-covered stone walls. It also has a port that one can access through the city. The city has very cold weather being in the icy north of Skyrim, however travelers heading toward the Rift or Whiterun will see the landscape turn green and lush almost immediately south of the city limits. Travelers to the city are greeted by the frozen bridge leading to the main gate, but it is the Palace of the Kings towering over all other structures in the city, that truly takes the breath away.

Diamond rubs her arms in attempt to warmth. It was now six in the afternoon and still the snow falls in clusters. She looks up, and stares at the countless specks that rained down around her, each white flake highlighted against the black backdrop of night, like a thousand falling stares in a dead sky.

The streets have high thick walls around them and are packed with snow, giving the city something of a claustrophobic feel; the sky is white or overcast, and fierce blizzards batter the city with alarming regularity. It is within these snow-strewn streets and icy alleys that Windhelm's inhabitants live, usually with an overriding sense of tension.

When Ulfric Stormcloak became Jarl, he separated the Dunmer and Argonian immigrants from the native Nord population This may have been to stop the Dunmer and Argonians from fighting each other, as in recent years there has been much conflict and hatred between the two peoples, or it may be a simple immigration cap due to the Stormcloaks fear of suspected Imperial spies.

Diamond navigates her way to the right where she finds the local marketplace. Stands of weaponry, food and meat are all lined up, and behind the meat stand was the apothecary shop. Diamond continues through and finds herself at the cemetery where a priestess commends the souls of the dead. Diamond growls as she takes an uphill path and finds the living quarters of the wealthier citizens. Just around a few corners was the Palace of the Kings. She spots a young woman carrying a flower basket. In Muiri's description, she matches Nilsine.

Diamond smiles and peruses. She flicks her cowl up and conceals the lower-half of her face. She is within range as Nilsine turns around. "What? Oh . . . did you need something?"

Diamond grimaces. "Did you hear that? It's the sound of your sister . . . screaming in the Void . . ."

Before Nilsine could utter a word of fear, a wickedly sharp point pierces the side of her neck and ruptures her windpipe. She collapses, unable to cry out to others. A great cry rose up around Diamond.

She turns and sprints. Diamond dances between the two men, her dagger a blur of steel. Both men are bleeding, and one in particular was soaked with blood from a gash underneath his arm. Diamond ducks a sideways slash, spins on her heels, and then lunges to the side of a thrust. The sword pierces the air inches from Diamond's face, but she seems to not care how close she comes to death. Her dagger punches underneath the breastplate, slicing open the flesh and spilling intestines to the cold stone of the road.

Diamond blows the wounded soldiers a kiss, then using a gust of wind and snow to her advantage, she steps back into the flurry, and disappears.

Wiping her blade off in the snow, Diamond tries to clean herself up as best she can with the available snow a she needs to catch the carriage back to Markarth. She cups the white powder in her hands and smothers her face. She tries to ignore the nipping pain of the cold as she smears and wipes her cheeks, hands, and her dagger. Though blood on weapons isn't exactly a rare sight in Skyrim.

She pays the driver upfront and only says, "To Markarth." Before she collapses in the wagon. She feels it lurch forward, and the horse huffs and neighs.

"You know what's weird to me?" she asks, and she sees the driver's head cock in attention. "When animals sigh. I mean really, what do they have to complain about?"

The driver laughs, and he replies, but Diamond barely catches it over the ringing in her ears. Her heart slows and she tries to even her breathing. She wraps her cloak around her tightly and curls into herself as the cold chill seeps through the fabric and seizes her skin with icy fingers. Thankfully as her adrenaline settles, her body warms and she dozes off on the ride back to Markarth.

The night has completely overtaken the sky when Diamond steps into Markarth once again. The entire town was dark apart from torches and small fires burning inside black iron brackets. Guards walk around with torches as they patrol the city at night. They merely greet her with a nod of acknowledgment.

Diamond heads straight for the Silver-Blood Inn, shoving open the doors. The chill of Windhelm still seems to have seize her cheeks as they grow warm upon entering the inn.

"Come in, come in." the bartender says.

Diamond walks around the bar and immediately heads for the fire where she kneels down and warms her hands. Rubbing them together, she overhears a man talking. Looking over her shoulder, she finds it is Alain. Her heart triples in speed, but keeps her masterly trained poker face.

"Yeah, and so this guy keeps talking about dragons, and I'm trying to get this girl drunk. He wouldn't shut up, so I tell him to quiet down. Little did I know, he had one too many drinks of mead. He picks a fight with me, and Klepper throws him out. I turn around, the girl is gone."

"Oh, where'd she go?" the man listening asks.

"I checked her room, but it was empty. And I looked around," Alain paraphrases. "and nothing. She's a clever girl."

"Who is she?" Another man asks. This one holding a broom. Probably house-keeping of the inn.

"Don't know her name. She was even clever enough not to tell me it. But she was a beauty. Even for a nineteen year old."

Diamond freezes and jerks her head to Alain's direction. She has the urge to talk to him, confront him, but it goes against her deal with Muiri. So she listens in, closer.

"Long black hair, kept it in a braid. Hazel eyes. Beautiful body with the ferocity of a Sabre cat." he chuckles. "Oh I swear when I find that precious creature, I am going to conquer her like any true Nord conquers any fierce beast."

The men all laugh and cheer, and Diamond feels her cheeks warm with rage. She snatches her dagger, the blood dry, and approaches Alain. Without sparing a word, she slices his throat and splatters blood across the floor. Other guests scream and flee as Diamond sheathes her knife and bolts for the door.

She shoves through to find three guards already beginning to surround the place. Diamond checks the daggers at her belt. She only had three left. There would be no whittling them down before they reach her, and she knows veteran killers are underneath that armor.

Twirling one of her few daggers in her fingers, she observes her strategy. One good throw, and she could make it four to one. Her speed is good, so he might blind or wound another. She chooses to throw her extra dagger. Diamond's heart pounds in her ears, she angles towards them. She cut one across the eyes as he swipes his sword at her head. Another screams and falls back, blood pouring out from underneath his arm.

_Better than expected_, Diamond thinks as she tries to twirl away. A hand latches onto her long sandy hair. Now it's her time to scream as she feels her scalp tug painfully, her momentum too great for her to stop. The guard swears and tosses a handful of hair to the ground.

Diamond twists and wrenches away. She draws her sword and swipes at the air so that the guards would clear a path in the attempt to dodge. Voices shout after her as she mounts the stone steps, skipping some if she needed to. Two chased after her, slashing the air before her chest and waist with their swords. She hurls a dagger between the two guards chasing her. End over end it twirls, and when it stuck true, Diamond let out an excited cry.

She runs up the steps to the bridge, she can't advance any further as they guard tower is right above her. Diamond weaves and slips dodging arrows as guards above aim downward. She hops up on the side of the bridge. She looks behind her and gulps as she's more than thirty feet off the ground.

"Give up now!" one guard says.

Diamond looks to them and snarls. She keeps her sword out swiping and yelling to get back. She looks once again at the sight.

_I can do this._

She quickly sheaths her sword, turns and jumps.

Libby now wanders back with her pockets lined with the valuables of a home she stole from and also a few trinkets of the Treasury Home. "Now where the heck is Diamond." She mumbles to herself.

Libby checks the sky and reads it as half past eleven.

"She should've been back by now." Libby holds out her arms motioning to nothingness, when suddenly something drops in her arms unexpectedly. It was fairly heavy that Libby was surprised she didn't drop it. Her hands naturally get a better grip.

She looks and watches as the hood falls back, revealing Diamond's red tinted face.

"Diamond?"

"Libby?!" Diamond exclaims. "What- what are you doing, here?" Diamond looks round.

"I'm on a job, and I came looking for you. What are you doing here?" Libby asks.

"Running from guards."

"What?!" Libby instantly drops her to the ground.

"Ow! Aw, I think I landed on my dagger."

"What do you mean, running from guards?" Libby asks.

"Well, uh, I got hired, I got caught, and now it is quickly becoming apparent I have a problem. Okay more than one problem." Dia explains.

Libby groans and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Look, Libby, I know we fought, but I need your help please!"

"What else is new?" Libby says. "Okay, just stay here, and follow me lead."

"Okay." Dia says. Then Libby suddenly runs away from her and into the shadows. "What the hell kind of lead is that?!" Dia yells.

Suddenly the guards come and surround her. "Ha! Found you!"

"Yes, because I was trying to hide." Diamond snaps. She raises her arms, in defeat.

Suddenly, the marketplace darkens. One of the torches outside the inn is blown out. Shadows dance around them, not cast from the remaining torchlight.

"What was that?" One guard asks.

Dia listens as they all hear whispers in their ears, but every time the guards would turn there was no one there. The words kept changing, their minds unable to lock down a meaning. The draw their swords.

"Tell me, why you insist on arresting one my colleagues?" the voice asks, only this time this one seems to come from their feet.

"She has committed crimes against Skyrim and her people. What say you in her defense?" he says.

"It's all she's ever known. It's a natural talent." says Libby, as Diamond now recognizes her.

Wisps of shadows floats off her like smoke. Her cloak pools on the floor as if it was liquid darkness, yet when she steps back, it immediately snaps erect and wraps about her sides.

"We, are the children of Sithis." says Libby. "We are their most fervent, their most faithful, for we have much to atone for."

"Please, please, don't sent us to the Void." One guard begs.

Dia peers over the shoulder of the guard in front of her. The shadows swarm together, grow in volume and mass, and then finally fill with color, becoming a Libby shrouded in black.

"There is warmth in the Void." Diamond says. "Would you like us to send you there?"

Only the serrated dagger shone bright and true in Libby's hand.

There's the sound of a scuffle coupled with pained screams that are cut off halfway through. The torch flares back on, and several bodies lie in a bloody puddle. The guard in front of Diamond hasn't moved, and then a dagger presses against his neck.

"You're next." Libby hisses.

"No, no please." The guard begs. The panic in his voice obvious. Dia smiles as his bravado weak against the serrated dagger pressed against his soft skin. The dagger scrapes against his neck. "I'll, I'll let you go. The bounty will be cleared, everything!"

Dia nods and the dagger leaves his neck. A hand stretches out to Dia, and she takes with firm fingers. A painful lurch later, they sprint through the gates and into the night. The stars were hidden behind clouds, and in the dim light, Dia stumbled as she ran. Only the strong grip on her wrist kept her moving.

"You right behind me?" Libby says.

"Yeah."

They pass Markarth Stables and cross the bridge before the stop. They breathe heavily and slump to the ground.

"What a way to kick-start a night, huh?" Dia jokes.

"Well, you lasted longer than I thought." Libby admits.

The girls look to one another and smile. Through their breathing they manage to laugh.

"So um, how about we head back to Riften?" Libby suggests.

"Sure." Dia agrees. "But I need to get my coin first."

Dia laughs as she hears Libby swear.


	6. Chapter 6

Diamond stirs the vegetable soup over the fireplace, while Libby finishes scaling the fish she caught. Diamond watches as she chops the head and dumps the entrails out the window. How could she do this, and still be squeamish about killing people? She even shot an elk on their way back.

After the girls escaped Markarth, they took the carriage all the way back to Riften without stopping. Paying off the driver was the thing, Diamond knew that, but Libby didn't say anything. They're now back in Riften, sheltered in the safety of Libby's home Honeyside.

During the ride, the girls talked but managed to avoid the topic of apologies. And as Diamond pours the soup into the two wooden bowls set up on the table, Libby cooks up a salmon steak, still without a word.

"So, you never answered my question." Diamond starts. She pulls at the blue robe Libby gave her, silk and warm, as she sits down at the table. Her hair pulled into a bun. "What were you doing in Markarth?"

Libby has her hair down and a fleecy nightgown on as she sets the salmon down. "I told you. I had jobs to do."

"That, and you also came looking for me." Diamond pries.

"I did." Libby admits, taking a spoonful of soup. "Because I knew you'd get in some kind of trouble."

Diamond sighs and takes a sip of water. Libby looks to her and sees the frustration. Libby puts down her utensils.

"And because I wanted to apologize." says Libby with a sigh. "It was wrong of me to yell at you, and for that I'm sorry."

Diamond's fork taps her bowl for a moment before she exhales. "And I'm sorry that I always get in trouble, and have a short temper, and that you always have to bail me out. I don't mean to, it just happens."

Libby smiles. "Thank you. And also, I'm sorry it you feel, under-appreciated. I, I known that everything I do, I always involve it with the Guild; and I'm trying to not do it as often. But please know that you're my best friend and you always will be."

"Awwww!" Diamond smiles and blushes. "Thank you. And maybe I could try and get into less trouble."

"That would be something." Libby teases. Diamond pokes out her tongue as she takes a bite of the salmon.

"Oh! And here." Diamond says with her mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

Dia gets up and rummages through the pockets of her uniform. She pulls out a bloated coin purse. She tosses it to Libby and sits back down.

"What's this?" Libby asks.

"Part of my payment from the conract."

Libby's eyes widen. "She paid you all this?"

"I got the two for one deal. She paid me double the amount to take out two targets." Dia explains. "This is repayment for Whiterun, and for Rorikstead, and for Riften."

"When Riften?"

"Just now when I was buying some potatoes." Dia speeds through, gulping down water.

Libby chuckles and thanks Dia. She gets up and puts the purse in the drawer of her end table next to her bed. It was a miracle that the two managed to sneak back into Markarth to retrieve Diamond's payment from Muiri. Libby had shown Diamond a shadowmark that led to a secret passage within the stone walls of the city. It's located under a guard tower and leads to all the shops and homes of Markarth, and then exits by following the ricer out to the bridge.

Libby boasted about it's not a miracle, but skill, which is debatable but still, they got the coin.

Finishing their meal, Diamond retires to bed while Libby heads downstairs into the basement to spend some time in the Alchemy lab and Arcane Enchanter. Diamond forgets that Libby "works in the shadows", so her sleep schedule is a bit off. Diamond would always encourage her to rest, saying that even in broad daylight Libby wouldn't get caught.

Still, Dia lets Libby mix and enchant as she crawls into bed, burrowing into the sheets. For minutes she listens to Libby downstairs; mashing and mixing and pouring until she hears the clinks of new bottles of poisons and potions. These noises tickle her eardrums until her eyes drift shut and the darkness carries her down into sleep.

Libby's muscles feel stiff as she awakens to the morning, finding herself curled up in a chair in the room of her enchanter. On the table is her Daedric Bow, glowing an orange-red blaze; the light growing and fading like the thing was breathing, long and even breaths. She had spent nearly half the night perfecting the flame enchant on her weapon, then had fallen asleep in the basement.

Libby gets up and stretches out her arms and legs, then twisting her torso from side to side until she heard a crack and pop. Then she yawns and walks up the steps to the floor above and finds Diamond stretched out across the bed. Her one arm dangles over the side, her foot the other, and a light snore blows strands of her hair when she exhales. Even if Libby had gone to bed, she would've spend the night on the floor.

She rummages through the dresser next to her bed and fishes out a comb. After detangling her hair, she puts it into her normal braid down her back. Out on the patio, overlooking he lake and Goldenglow Estate, Libby had strung up their uniforms to dry after Diamond washed them last night. Pulling them off the clothing line, Libby goes back inside and folds Diamond's, and slips into her Guild uniform.

Starting up the fire, Libby goes back out to the patio to harvest the salmon strung along the banister by rope.

A tingle along Libby's spine makes her freeze. She cans sense danger before it happens.

Libby whirls around while snatching a dagger from her belt. It leaves her hand and sticks to the wood of the doorframe, nearly missing the hooded figure behind her table set. The armor of the Guild is what stops Libby from launching another. So instead she holds her dagger posed to strike.

"You're getting good, lass. Nice work." Brynjolf smiles. But Libby doesn't lower her dagger. Still, Brynjolf laughs. He holds up his hands. "Victory is yours. I submit."

Now Libby smiles and sheathes her dagger. "Never let your guard down until your enemy submits." She quotes.

"I've taught you well lass." Brynjolf says as he takes a seat at the patio chair.

"So, dare I ask why you're here? You only come here when you have a job or bad news." Libby nervously says as she sits across from him.

"Well it's a little bit of both." Brynjolf sighs.

"What is it?" Libby asks.

"Why don't you wake up Diamond and meet me in the Guild." Brynjolf says. He then gets up and leaves Libby.

Libby sighs and heads back inside. Diamond is still sprawled across the bed. A small trail of drool in the corner of her mouth. Libby chuckles as she rounds the bed. She places a hand on Diamond's shoulder and gently taps.

"Diamond." She whispers, hoping not to startle. She can't remember how often Dia sleeps with a knife. When Diamond doesn't respond, Libby shakes harder; her voice growing in volume. "Diamond. Diamond!" Libby shoves her, but Dia only rolls to her back.

Dia momentarily giggles and has a goofy smile on her lips. "Hehehe. Oh Cynric! Of course I'll marry you!" she mumbles with a smile.

Libby can't help but snicker as she sounds like she's had too much skooma. Not to mention she now can file that juicy tidbit away for later. "Diamond, come on!" Libby says. "We need to get to the Guild" Diamond only answers with a snore.

Libby groans in aggravation. She rubs her face with her hands and sighs. Rounding the bed so she faces the door to the patio, Libby grips the blankets and sheets in her fists. Then with one collective whip, she snaps the sheets and hears the thump of Diamond's body o9n the floor followed by her yelp of pain.

"Ow! What the hell?!" she hollers as she thrashes within the entanglement of cloth. When she finally throws it off, she glares at Libby; who stands with her arms folded. "What was that for?!" she growls.

"Brynjolf wants us to meet him in the Guild. Said it was important." Libby says as she steps over to the hearth.

"And you couldn't think to wake me gently?" Diamond says as she stands. "I think I landed on my hip."

"Please you've been hurt worse since. Give me a break." Libby retorts. "And I tried, and you weren't exactly responsive. Now get dressed. Your uniform's out on the deck, your weapons in the trunk downstairs."

"Is everything okay?" Dia asks as she tries to smooth her hair.

"I don't know. Brynjolf said it was a mixture of bad news." Libby answers. "He wants us in the Guild in a few minutes; so hurry up."

"Okay, okay. Ms. Bossy." Dia pesters. As she goes to retrieve her uniform, Libby slyly smiles.

"Oh and Diamond," she says. Diamond turns her head on attention. "I don't think Cynric's ready for marriage yet."

Libby's smile widens as she watches Dia's eyes widen, and her cheeks bloom a full red.

"Shut up!" Diamond squeals and she's met with Libby's hysteric laughter.

Once dressed and past Libby's tantalizing, Diamond follows Libby through the Square of Riften. She expects to weave through the crowd, dodging elbows and muttering "excuse me" the way he always does, but there is no need. Wearing her Guild armor has made Libby noticeable. The crowd parts for them, their eyes cling to her as she passes. Either Libby doesn't notice or doesn't care, because her face bears a ferocious dominating glare. She acts as through she's above them. Which given the circumstances, seems appropriate. Diamond follows close behind. The people lean into one another and whisper. Dia keeps her head high and even flinches to a local, who jolts back. Dia smiles; having Libby with her seems to make everyone treat her with more respect.

Libby keeps her head straight as they pass the Mistveil Keep. Guards' heads turn and Dia looks back without flinching. Once inside the graveyard just to the left of the keep, Libby tells Dia to keep a lookout while she enters the mausoleum holding a coffin with the emblem of the Guild on its side.

Dia listens as she hears the stone scrape slightly, then the loud clang of machine and stone as the coffin slides into the wall, revealing a staircase that leads to a small hole curving deeper into the mausoleum; like some oversize rabbit hole. As she strides down the stairs, the coffin slides back over their heads, entombing the girls. The space it all enough so both girls can stand straight. Libby twists and pulls the cover off and climbs feet first into the hole.

"Make sure the cover's secure." She calls. After Dia. Then she clambers into the dark space and is gone.

After a count of five, Diamond follows. She takes the lid in hand as her feet find the steps of the wooden ladder beneath her. Securing the lid, Dia takes careful steps down until her toes touch the wet dirt of the Cistern. Libby waits for her with her arms folded, but more with a nervous gait.

"What's wrong?" Dia asks.

Libby only continues to look forward and Dia follows her gaze. Mercer Frey, the Guild Master, stands at the epicenter of the Cistern with Brynjolf. His arms are folded and he looks more irritated than normal. Dia rubs Libby's shoulder and feels her relax only slightly. Libby can face bears, giants, trolls and even dragons without cowering. But if there's one thing Diamond knows she fears, it's an aggravated Mercer Frey.

"It'll be okay." Diamond assures.

Libby looks to her and gives her a ghost of a smile. She keeps her arms huddled tight as they enter fully into the Cistern. Light from the well located above at the center of the town, pours in. Its rays catch specks of dust as they drift in and out.

When Mercer looks to the girls, Libby's feet halt slightly, but with Diamond's little bump she pushes forward until they stand across from Mercer and Brynjolf. Brynjolf gives a small smile, and Diamond can't help but feel like they're about to be lectured b their parents for doing something wrong.

"Nice to see you Libby." Mercer says with a distraught tone. He looks to Diamond and nods. "Diamond."

"Look, whatever this is, I can assure you it was most likely my fault." Diamond suddenly blurts.

Mercer quirks and eyebrow in question while Brynjolf chuckles softly.

"You girls aren't in trouble." He clears. "We just wanted to discuss an issue with you."

Libby relaxes slightly but her muscles are still tense against Mercer's predatory gaze. The gleam in his eyes makes Libby question whether he'll punish her for mucking up, or claim her as his own.

Her curiosity on Brynjolf's statement keeps her voice from quaking. "What's the problem?"

"This has to do with the incident you two created in Markarth." Mercer scolds, folding his arms. Libby feels a ball of wax form in her throat, making it difficult to breathe. Diamond's heart triples in speed and her palms become sweaty. "Word is spreading that the Brotherhood and the Guild are working." Mercer continues. "And while it's true that we have connection with each other, I don't want the holds and guards to think that we're participating in each other's business."

"Someone apparently must've recognized you in your uniform, lass." Brynjolf directs to Libby. "And even though we don't know – or want to know – what happened, it was enough to start the rumor."

"Well, it's just rumors. They'll blow over." Libby speaks.

"Be that as it may, your mere stroll through the marketplace was enough to throw furl on the fire." Brynjolf says. "And while we're, happy, that you two have worked out your problems, we've decided it would be best if our factions stay separated for a while."

Libby's heart skips a beat and her brows instantly furrow. Diamond stares at Brynjolf for a second with a wide-eyed angry look, mouth agape.

"What?!" She exclaims. "You can't be serious."

"We're always serious." Mercer says. "Our factions need to be apart so that the rumor proves false."

"But we just made up!" Diamond preaches. "Do you, do you have any idea what we have been through?! This, this! This just goes against all revelation of the qualification and the justification. . !"

"What are you saying?" Brynjolf asks with an amused smile.

"I don't know, but it sounds legit and professional!" Dia says as she points her finger for emphasis.

Libby pulls Dia back and steps forward. "So, can we not see each other, or not be seen together in pubic?" she asks.

"You're more than welcome here in the Guild, Diamond. Since the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary is off limits to non-members." Brynjolf says. "But no, you girls can't be seen together in public."

"How long do we need to this?" Libby asks.

Brynjolf and Mercer tilt their heads toward each other, as if sharing a thought. Libby catches sight of the Dwarven sword tucked into Mercer's belt, the slides of its hilt painted red. The blade glows a deep red, pulsating like the blood is constantly flowing through it. And since it was designed to suck the life points of an opponent, the possibility is plausible. Libby shudders at the thought of its piercing her flesh.

"We presume only two weeks." Brynjolf finalizes.

"Two?!" Dia exclaims. "Come on! With dragons about, you really think that _this_ rumor is bound to last more than two days?"

"Dia," Libby hushes.

"I've already spoken to your Mistress," Mercer says. "She agrees with the terms and says that she will find something to keep you busy, Diamond; since you can't seem to keep yourself still, and your mouth shut."

"We also have new assignments for you two Libby. So this way the two weeks will fly by." Brynjolf says to Libby.

"But let me make one thing clear," Mercer barks. "I don't want to see either of you together in public. Whether you're in Riften, Whiterun, Solitude, even Kynsgrove." He looks directly to Libby. "Do I make myself clear?"

Libby nods and huddles deeper into herself, her arms tightening around her torso. "Yes, I understand."

"Good. And now I think it's time we put your expertise to the test, Libby." Mercer says.

"Wait a moment, you're not talking about Goldenglow are you?" Brynjolf asks. "Even our little Vex couldn't get in."

"She's been with us for nearly twenty years, Brynjolf. So let her prove what she's learned." Mercer defends. He turns to Libby. "Goldenglow estate is critically important to one of our largest clients. However the owner has suddenly decided to take matters into his own hands and shut us out. He needs to be taught a lesson. Brynjolf will provide you with the details. And Diamond," Diamond looks to him. "It's time you head back to your family."

Without another word, Mercer turns and leaves. Dia is about to say something, but Libby stops her. "At least we can still hang out in the Guild." She perks.

"Yeah but what fun is that?" Diamond whines. "We can't kill bandits or raid houses down here. No offense Brynjolf."

Brynjolf shrugs.

"Well you can stay, you know." Libby suggests.

"And listen to a fun and sneaking mission that I can't join you on? That's just evil of you." Dia mocks. "I'll just head back home."

"You sure?"

"I'll be fine. Maybe, hopefully. Not really."

Libby laughs as she hugs and waves Dia goodbye. When her feet pass through the hole, Libby sighs.

"Well great meeting. See you." She chips.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there lass. I'm not done talking to you yet. Get back here." Brynjolf snickers. "You feelin' better?" Brynjolf asks.

"I thought Mercer was gonna kill me. It's weird. It's like a relief, but disappointing." Libby answers with a nervous laugh.

"You two will be fine. I promise you. The worst is over." Brynjolf says. "Mercer would never kill you. You're too valuable to lose."

Libby smiles and leans into Brynjolf's shoulder as he pets her head. He never really was the fatherly type, but considering everything they've been through and the fact that he did raise Libby he's the closest thing she'll ever have.

But she wouldn't want it any other way.

"So, tell me about the Goldenglow Estate job."

"It's the small island you see from your patio. Goldenglow Estate is a bee farm; they raise the wretched little things for honey." Brynjolf explains. "It's owned by some smart-mouth wood elf named Aringoth. We need you to teach him a lesson by burning down three of estate's hives and clearing out the safe in the main house."

"What's the catch?" Libby asks.

"The catch is that you can't burn the whole place to the ground. That important client Mercer mentioned would be furious if you did."

"Makes sense. Good thing Diamond isn't here."

"Aye, and the last thing we want to be doing is crossing our clients." Brynjolf adds.

"What should I do about Aringoth?" Libby asks.

"Maven prefers that Aringoth remains alive, but if he tries to stop you from getting the job done, kill him. The Guild has a lot riding on this, so don't disappoint us. Not that I expect you to."

Libby nods and exhales heavily. "Okay." She breathes.

"You watch yourself on that island. Those mercenaries don't take prisoners."

Libby nods over her shoulder and heads to the Flagon to talk to Vex. He picks at her fingernails nervously as she rounds the corner to the bar. She finds Vex in her spot at the bar with a tankard filled with Black-Brier Mead. She notices Libby and smiles.

"So, did Diamond like the new arrangement?" she asks.

"Of course you know." Libby answers. "She decided to head back to the Sanctuary. Brynjolf said that Astrid had another contract for her."

"Oh." Vex takes a sip from her tankard. "Less of a headache for me."

"So, I heard you ran into trouble at Goldenglow."

"Hmph, yeah I did. That wood elf's wit . . . he's a lot smarter than I expected. Can you believe that fetcher had more than tripled the guard? There must've been eight of them in there. It was like he was daring us to come and get him."

"Well, now it's become my problem. Any tips to get me in there?" Libby asks.

"Well, there's an old sewer tunnel that dumps into the lake on the northwest side of the island. That's how I slipped in there. Should still be unguarded." Vex says.

Libby nods. She accepts a tankard from Vekel owns and operates The Ragged Flagon. She doesn't drink it. Vekel was once a resident of Honorhall Orphanage, and "continually got into trouble for concocting strange and powerful alcoholic drinks that kept his fellow orphans in a near continual stupor". He eventually ran away and saved enough from his burgeoning pickpocket career to afford the tavern.

"Vex, do you think I'm ready, for this?" Libby dare asks.

Vex is quiet and only looks to her. Libby gets a bubbly feeling in her stomach and prepares herself for Vex's ridicule. But the one corner of Vex's mouth twitches.

"I think it's about time they've given you a job. I was getting annoyed of seeing you wandering around all day while some of us have to _really_ work." She says with another sip of her drink.

Libby's insides relax, and she has to bite her lip to suppress a smile. Even if that's the closest compliment Vex will ever give, it was more than Libby had expected. She chugs down her drink, and after a guttural belch, and praise from Dirge and Delvin, Libby gives her regards before heading back into the Cistern.


	7. Chapter 7

Diamond returns to the Sanctuary around midnight. She enters and heads down the steps to finally report her job completion to Astrid.

Since leaving the Guild back in Riften, she let loose every swear word she's heard any citizen of Skyrim say. Cursing Mercer's name in spite. After the whole process of making up with Libby just to have their factions yank them apart. Even if it's only two week, they're practically inseparable, and their chances of survival increase nearly to a hundred percent when together.

Cursing Mercer may not change their decision, but it makes Diamond feel better. Upon entering the Sanctuary, she finds Astrid doubled over a table with papers and dagger stabbing certain marked spots.

"Ah you're back. So, how went your first real contract? A bit more exciting than what Nazir's been offering you I'd wager?" Astrid asks over her shoulder.

"I only live to serve. Hail Sithis!" Diamond chants. It was something the members always said, and it made Astrid like Diamond more whenever she says it.

"Oh, very good. Very good indeed. You, my dear, are fitting in quite nicely around here." Astrid smiles. "Now, I need your assistance with a matter of the assassination group called "The Faceless."

"You've contacted them?" Dia asks, a sudden burst of excitement is consumed more with nervousness.

"Indeed I have. They wish to meet with a member of our group and in turn send a member of their own." Astrid explains. "They didn't say whether they wanted to ally with us, so that's why I'm being cautious and sending Veezara with you in case things get . . . bloody. I have no doubt they will do the same."

"If you, know that they will attack, why bother meeting them?" Diamond questions.

"These are all just precautionary measures if they were to throw a knife in our backs. I don't want you killed at the hands of another assassination group. They want to meet Frostmere Crypt, and if assumption holds, it's probably close to their sanctuary location; seeing as how it's far out of our territory. Go. Veezara will meet you there and be careful." Astrid says.

Diamond nods and after Astrid says to have a few moments rest, Diamond excuses herself to her bedroom where she manages to catch only a few hours of sleep before she's roused by Veezara saying he's departing. Diamond runs her fingers through her hair, smoothes it down and secures it with a rubberband. She gathers a new belt of daggers and pulls her cowl up over her head. Veezara guides her out of the Sanctuary and they bound off into the night.

Frostmere if far north of Falkreath, but only southwest of Dawnstar. Being one of many other burial crypts in Skyrim, it has great stonework around its entrance. Diamond and Veezara wait on the inside after killing a few lowlife bandits. They dumped the bodies off to the side and gathered about the fire. Diamond settles on a bed roll while Veezara stirs a stew in the cooking pot.

Torches burn orange on the wall, held by ebony brackets on either side of the door to the crypt. The bitter bite of the cold blows outside as the sun had set over the horizon, surrendering the day to the night and letting the darkness thrall with harsh winds and pelting snow. Diamond wraps the bed roll around her and rubs her hands. She peers outside and sees nothing but the thick opaque sheets of snow.

"How do you suppose they'll get here?" Diamond asks.

"Walking?" Veezara sarcastically answers.

Diamond gives an annoyed smirk. "You know what I mean. How do you supposed they'll get here with that storm?"

Veezara merely shrugs as he continues to stir. "They're assassins. They'll make it."

"You think they're . . . good?"

He's quiet, but his hands continue in their determined circular motions around the pot. "They seem worth giving attention to, but I wouldn't step far as saying that they're intimidating."

"Well, they've at least got Astrid, cautious." Diamond snickers. "I've never seen her so cautious."

"I'm sure she's more worried about the taking up clients rather than their skill. But remember this "meeting" is about seeing if they want to ally with us. Now come and get some soup." Veezara says.

"One of your special Argonian specialties?" Diamond snorts as she emerges out of her little burrito of comfort.

Veezara makes a comment about how he added some special Argonian spices to give it more of a kick as Diamond takes a wooden bowl. She's behind him ready for the soup when she sees a flicker of light over Veezara's shoulder, and peers around him to get a better look.

Then an arrow bolts towards them.

"Get down!" Diamond screams, dropping her bowl and hitting the floor.

The arrow hits the door to the crypt, and Veezara had just dropped to one knee when another hits into the fire. Veezara's arm wraps around Diamond's shoulder an shoves her toward the wall. The flames of the fire erupt in an explosion that knocks his body into Diamond's; pining her to the wall. Her rings ear and her right shoulder burns, and she sees Veezara crouched around her to shield her from the arrowfire. The pain subsides to a dull ache. Diamond ducks low, her shoes crunching pieces of wood and rock beneath their soles, and pulls her sword out of its sheath on her belt.

All around her the fire has dissipated from the explosion, like it had leeched out all of its light. Now they are crouching in darkness with only one torch that managed to stay alive after the burst of warm air after the blast. They wait for another arrow to whiz at their heads, but it stays quiet.

Veezara rises and draws a dagger. "Show yourselves!" he demands.

Diamond slides her hand under her armor and feels for the wound in her shoulder. She's not bleeding, but the forces of the combustion knocked her down so she must've been hit with something. She runs her fingers over her shoulder, and feels a hard bump here the skin used to by smooth.

Then voices whisper into the room.

Diamond jumps like a startled rabbit. She stands next to Veezara and spins the blade of her dagger out.

"That was quite the entrance!" she says from her stance. She then leans close to Veezara. "Safe to say they don't want to be friends."

Diamond's voice caught in her throat, for there was no one at the door. Again they heard the voice, echoing from wall to wall like a magician's trick. This time she clearly realized that a woman was doing the whispering, a fact that should have calmed her but strangely did not.

"We are the Faceless children," says the whisper. "We are the most fervent, the most skilled, for we have much to atone for. Are you a ginner, girl? Will you lift your arms to us and accept our mercy?"

Shadows dance around Diamond and Veezara in the room, not cast from the torch flickering on the wall. Diamond takes tiny steps back into its light, hoping it can somehow drive them away like sunlight drives away vampires.

"Show yourselves!" Veezara repeats. "We come here to make peace and you instead try to shoot us dead! An act as cold as the winter wind outside!"

When Diamond peers towards the entrance, she sees the shadows swarm together, grow in volume and mass, and then finally fill with color, becoming a woman shrouded in black with a thin white cloth covering the gap left for her eyes.

"Can't take the cold? There's warmth in the Void," the woman says as she draws a serrated dagger. "Would you like me to send you there, Argonian?"

"Don't try and makes threats!" Diamond snaps. "Astrid said you wanted to try and make piece. If you have other members, make them show their faces! We knew this would happen so we came prepared!"

"Careful of what you ask, little girl. Be clear with your demands, or accept the cruel gifts fools and selfish men may give."

Diamond forces a snarl. But it takes all her willpower to suppress the shaking of her hands and keep them gripped in fists.

"We wanted to become allies, but your attack had obliterated that!" Veezara hisses. "Why did you attack u without meeting the means of our agreement?!"

"Don't ask questions you should already know the answer to. Remain quiet. We are few, and some things must be done in silence." the woman says.

She wraps her cloak around her body, its fabric seemingly made of liquid shadow. A sudden jerk and she is gone, her body exploding into dark fragments that splash across the walls and fade like smoke.

"Skyrim has long forgotten about you and your reputation has dispersed. It's time a new and better generation of assassins devour the fear of her citizens, and show them the true fear and power true warriors of the shadows deserve." Echoes a whisper through the room. "Remember, the cost you pay is always dearer once it has left your hand."

Just as the last word hisses, Veezara is knocked to the side from a brutal kick to the head; nearly crashing into the other side of the room. Diamond was about to look to him, but kept her gaze forward enough to spot a pale wrapped face barreling towards her. She blocks the faceless woman's serrated dagger, but the woman then spins knocking the sword aside with her one leg, and ramming it into Diamond's gut with the other. Diamond grunts and feels the woman's right fist slam into his cheek, then her left before she grabs Diamond's hair and ears, bringing head down and ramming it to her knee. Diamond stumbles back and feels a stream of liquid run down her lip. Bloody nose.

Veezara pushes to his feet and readies his weapon. He charges for the girls and as he swipes, he expects it to land in the faceless' back, but it only hits the ground. He looks to the left and is met with a vicious punch to his jaw, then kick to the stomach before his feet are out from under him. Diamond goes to slash the faceless woman's arm, but instead feels her wrist grabbed and her head bangs into the iron door of the crypt. The faceless woman then pulls her back and spins and kicks her back. Diamond only manages to roll backwards to her knees.

"Let's take this outside shall we?" the faceless woman says. She then back flips all the way out the door and disappears into the blizzard.

Diamond snarls and follows despite Veezara's words of warning. Diamond stands in the middle of the storm, snow swirling around her like a vortex. She listens carefully; ignoring the howl of the wind in her ears. Diamond spins around, bringing her elbow up as she does, and thrusts it towards the woman's face. It catches the end of her chin, but not enough to stop her. She grabs Diamond's left hand with one hand and presses the tip of her dagger to Diamond's forehead with the other. A second later she drives the hilt of the dagger into Diamond's jaw. Diamond clenches her teeth to suppress a groan. Blood trickles down her neck – she broke the skin. The blood slides off the faceless woman's robes like water.

The woman back handsprings, leaps into the air, raising a sword. Diamond blocks it with her own and slashes it aside, kicking the woman in the shoulder; but as the woman hitches a cry and drops to one knee, she uses her other leg to kick Diamond's feet out. Diamond's back slams into the ground.

The woman goes for the killing blow, but Diamond raises her legs up, catching the woman's wrists and flinging her over. Rolling with her momentum, Diamond rolls back and to her feet, spinning out her dagger and gripping her sword. Veezara runs out and joins Diamond in the blizzard.

"She's fast." Diamond howls over the roar of the wind.

"Then let's be faster." Veezara growls.

Suddenly the woman bursts from the flurry grabbing Veezara's wrists, twirling and bringing her leg up to her neck. She hurls him down trapping his neck between her knee, cutting off his breathing. Within seconds he's unconscious.

"Not fast enough." The woman provokes.

Diamond sheathes her sword and goes to her belt of daggers. The faceless woman flips off of Veezara and lands on one knee a few feet from Diamond. She could not see the woman's eyes through the white cloth, but she had a feeling that behind it and the wrappings hid an amused smile. She leaps high flipping back drawing another dagger that matched the other.

Diamond doesn't waste time throwing her daggers at the woman. But she dodges every single one, coming closer and closer. Diamond leaps back and to the left as the blade of the woman's weapon comes close to her cheek.

The woman grabs Diamond's elbow, yanking her back, and pushes her thumb into the wound in Diamond's shoulder, twisting until the pain makes Diamond's vision go black at the edges, and she screams at the top of her lungs.

"I _thought_ I recalled from the explosion that you getting hit in that shoulder," she says, "It seems I was right."

Diamond's knees cripple beneath her, and the woman grabs Diamond's collar almost carelessly, dragging her back towards the crypt entryway. The fabric digs into Diamond's throat, choking her, and she stumbles after the woman. Her body throbs with lingering pain.

She feels herself dropped to the floor and the woman steps over her. Diamond can't push herself up with the throbbing in her arm working its way to her head. Instead, she watches as the woman turns to face her.

"I'd really hate to be whichever one of you has to explain to your superior how you got obliterated by a faceless single-handedly." She giggles.

"Why . . .?" Diamond croaks. She grits her teeth and pushes up on one arm. "Why do this?"

"Because your organization is a pathetic excuse for a group of assassins. All your do is wallow in your little burrow only taking a small handful of the thousands of contracts you have. Only accepting very little coin that what you could have" the woman spites. "Astrid is a poor excuse of a leader. You don't even deserve to call yourselves assassins."

"I'd like to see you repeat that facing against all of us." Diamond challenges.

"I would. If I could take out the two of you, I can take on your organization. If you're the representation of what they offer . . . I am _deeply_ disappointed." The faceless woman spins her dagger between her fingers as she approaches Diamond. Diamond tries to swallow but it feels like she has a wad of cotton balls in her throat. "Though, I won't lie; you seem to have some potential. Fighting you was most . . . amusing."

"I'm not here for giggles." Diamond scowls.

"Understandable. And lucky for you my orders are clear. When you come to, report back to your mistress that Skyrim is our territory now. And if we see one of her other members out, we won't be so merciful."

"Why don't you just kill me now?" Diamond asks.

The faceless woman's fingers brush against Diamond's forehead and Diamond shudders. She should strike, but she's too weak. Her only hope is Veezara comes to quick enough to ambush her, though Diamond doesn't hold her hopes up.

"Because my orders were to intimidate." She answers. "And judging from the look on your face, you've had enough. Though not for entertainment values."

There's a sudden burst of pain that crackles along Diamond's skull. She hits the ground, the grit stone scraping against her cheek. She thinks she screams, but she can't tell as her sense have become muted. The world gets fuzzy, her hearing muffled. The faceless woman approaches her and Diamond can feel her grip her chin.

"You're organization is dead." She seethes.

Diamond could swear she sees green eyes studying her through the white mask.

Diamond folds her lips in to suppress a sob. Her chin is released and her head is on the ground again. The faceless woman steps over her and Diamond listens as she hears the footsteps disappear.

Her vision is too blurry with tears and her hands too useless to grip her dagger. Diamond screams into gritted teeth, frustrated. She can't help. She is worthless.

Diamond feels strong hands gently grab her biceps and slowly pulls her upright. He blinks away tears, her ears ringing. Veezara holds her carefully, his face studying hers with concern.

"Veezara," Diamond croaks.

She closes her eyes, and his hands wrap around right where they join with the shoulder. He pulls Diamond against his chest, gathering her into his arms, easing an arm under Diamond's knees. Diamond presses her face into his shoulder, and there is a flash of black ink curling around the side of his shoulder and Diamond lets the gentle sway calm her frayed nerves, and rock her into darkness.

* * *

Goldenglow is a large estate and apiary outside Riften, located on a group of islands, connected by bridges, in Lake Honrich. The honey produced there is the primary supply for Maven Black-Briar's Meadery, making it an important location in the Rift. An Altmer named Aringoth owns the estate, and he has hired several mercenaries to patrol both the estate grounds and inside the estate house itself.

The sewer entrance Vex mentioned is located on the northwest side of the estate just on the shore near a mercenary's walkway. The bee hives are located on an island southwest of the estate's main building. The mercenaries outside are hostile to members of the Thieves Guild, and neutral to adventurers just stumbling across it.

Libby stands on a nearby farmland observing the property. The farm is situated on the northern shore of Lake Honrich just northwest of the Riften Stables. Merryfair Farm is the home of Dravin and Synda Llanith. They make a living growing wheat, cabbage and gourds. They have a cow and chickens. Dravin can often be seen working the flour mill. Dravin Llanith is a Dunmer farmer living with his wife Synda at the farm. Libby had retrieved his bow that got stolen by bandits back in the Ratways. For a mere famer, he gave Libby a small handful of flawless gems.

After speaking with the others on advice for the mission, Libby can't help but feel that this assignment if much bigger than she makes it. If this can help bring the Guild back to its feet, it much be huge.

Delvin's words echo in her mind: "Somethin' out there is piss-drunk mad at us. I don't know who or what is it. But it's beyond just you and me. We've been cursed."

This is probably the first step, but making it seem like a much bigger deal only makes her more nervous. And she needs her head on straight if she wants to complete this without mucking up. Libby takes a deep breath and wanders away from the farm. She makes sure to pick a spot near the sewer entrance, and thankfully it's opposite a gathering of trees.

Libby takes a deep breath and swan dives into the lake. The water snatches her with icy fingers a she plunges beneath the surface. It instantly seeps into h fabric of her uniform; nearly tripling its weight, and pulling her down. She brushes through some seaweed tendrils before her foot finds a thick enough mound. Pushing off with her toes, she breaks the surface.

Gasping for air, Libby takes two gulps before sinking back so the surface of the water levels under her nose. The sewer entrance is located under a wooden platform. Libby doesn't see any mercenaries, but still dives back under before crawling up to the entrance.

She quietly catches her breath, wipes her face and wrings out her hair. She grips and twists the lid, and slips inside as she hears footsteps approaching.

The rotting smell of food and mold has little effect on Libby as she drops in. Water drips from the ceiling and torches in iron brackets cast light along the walls; creating patches of bruising darkness. The smell of wet stone and skeever dropping make the air feel thick, and breathing a chore.

Libby keeps her bow at the ready as she toggles through the first passageway; taking out two skeevers already. Not long as she rounds the first corner does she hear the sneering of more. She presses close to the wall and peers her head slowly around the bend. Flicking her eyes all over, searching for a strategy, she finds a tripwire and a lantern dangling directly above. She sniffs the air and catches the smell of kerosene.

Libby steps back and slices at the rope with her dagger. There's a snap and the lantern drops. It shatters and explodes, sending a rush of hot air towards Libby and igniting the fuel beneath. The pathway erupts into flame and sends the pieces scattering, nearly nicking Libby in the cheek. There's the scent of roasted fur and flesh before the flames die down.

Taking cautious steps through, Libby comes to a small fork of tunnels, continuing on to the one to her left. She comes to a circular room with a pillar at the center. There's a small pile of bones and Libby steps back as a skeever comes walking out from behind the pillar. She loads an arrow in her bow and shoots it dead. Another one comes out and Libby shoots it too. There's another entryway with another tripwire, and when it's activated a mace on a chain comes swinging out, nearly missing Libby's face.

She's getting close. There wouldn't be any traps around here if they didn't think anyone would enter here. Libby heads down the path and comes to a dead end, but on her left still is a wooden ladder leading up to the surface.

Carefully she twists the lid and pops it off. Fresh air greets her and fills Libby's lungs. She doesn't know how long she was down there, it felt like hours, but given the light of day, probably not even thirty minutes. She stays low on her knees and twists her back until she hears a crack.

On her right is the back door, with an expert lock. Libby twirls a pick in her hand before sliding it into the lock. After certain fiddling, she hears it unlatch and slips in silent as a ghost.

The inside of the house is completely built in wood. Libby reviews her mission in her head. She needed to sneak into the estate: check. Now she needs to clear the safe in the main house, then burn down the bee hives. It probably would've been smart to burn the hives first, but then they'd know she was here.

Libby slowly creeps along the hall and comes to a small open room chairs and tables, and a mercenary siting in the chair up ahead. There's an open doorway that leads to the dining hall and around the mercenary. Killing wasn't really her thing, so this is one of those times she wishes she had Diamond with her to keep them busy while she searches for the key.

Slipping into the dining hall, she comes out the other doorway to find a cell door leading downstairs. Most likely that's where the safe is, and since she only has limited picks against a probable master set safe, they key is her main objective. She hears footsteps and peeks to find another mercenary walking down to the other sitting in the chair.

On the opposite end of the hall, are stairs leading to the upper level. She enters a room with small tables and chairs and empty bookshelves. The only thing worth stealing is the coin purse and scattered coin on the other table. Stalking inward, she makes an immediate left and right around an edge to find another mercenary standing guard at the next bend. Thankfully halfway down the hallway is another door that's bound to cut through. Libby slinks to the side of the wall and pushes open the door.

As she steps in, she instantly finds another mercenary sleeping. Slowly, she sneaks past, not even creating the slightest creak in the wood. The door at the other end is already open, and Libby comes to an intersection leading to two different bedrooms. The master bedroom is towards the right, and Libby finds another mercenary sitting at a table, back to her. Instead of taking him out first, she'll wait after Aringoth. She walks in to find a platform that's two steps up to the bed, the elf crouching in the corner. Libby pulls out her blow dart and adds a heavy powered tranquilizer. The dosage inside the dart is meant to kill a cave bear, and while Aringoth isn't the strongest of men, his elf blood makes him half resistant to poison. This should knock him out though, and if things get worse, it could go good either way. Aringoth will either die, or live with the pains and inflammations the serum creates. Either way, he'll know the wrath of Maven and the Guild.

Libby steadies her hand and blows. Seconds after is hits the skin of his neck, the elf begins to stagger. Libby then runs up and drives her right fist into his cheek, then her left before bringing his head down and ramming it to her knee. Libby catches him and drags his body over to the bed. She sets him on his side, removes the dart, and sets up his legs so that it looks like he dosed off. Digging through his pockets, she finds the key to the safe.

Out of her ear she hears, "What was that?" the mercenary must've heard.

Libby tucks back into the corner, one of her throwing knives at the ready. The mercenary comes in with his axe in hand and scans the room. When he finds Aringoth, Libby lets herself exhale when he doesn't bother to wake him.

"I guess I was just hearing things." He dismisses.

Then when his back is turned, Libby spins a dagger in her hand before launching it through the air. It sticks true into the man's neck, at the tip of the cervical of the spine. After a brief sound of choking on blood, he falls and red liquid puddles under his neck.

Libby runs past him, making sure she doesn't step in it. She instantly slips to the side of the wall, pulling her dagger ready. Evading his sight, she slips through the room and heads back downstairs. Gliding down the steps, she heads straight for the cell-like door straight ahead. She checks for the footsteps and finds them distant. Even if she has time before they discover the mercenary, Libby acts as though she only has minutes.

Picking the novice lock of the door, she heads in shutting the door behind her. Down the steps, she enters into the basement.

The room was thick with dust and there were old tables with the chair stacked on top. A single chandelier in the corner provided little light, and showed two more guards in conversation. Libby can feel the burn in her knee joint as she camouflages into the shadows and over to the door blocked out of view by the wall. Pushing through she sneaks right then left and left again before more kerosene wafts to her nose.

Up ahead she sees the silhouette of another guard. At this point Libby is beyond annoyed.

"What the fuck?" she swears.

Further back she can see another lantern. She could shoot it down, but the guard would probably spot it in enough time to run and jump in Libby's direction. Libby takes a small lighter in her back pocket and flicks the flame to life. She instantly steps back as the flame erupts.

"Huh?"

The guard stand too late as the flames rush him. He winces at first, then cries out in pain. She runs in the opposite direction of Libby, by relief. She follows and rolls to an inner wall as he turns around. Just to be safe, Libby takes a pinch of vampire dust which thanks to her alchemy playing one day, revealed to her that it makes you invisible. The powder dissolves in her mouth instantly, but still she tastes the tarp and spicy flavoring of the dust.

He walks past her without even looking, the burns not as severe as Libby was hoping. But she continues on and heads down a flight of stairs into the room with a chest and the safe.

"Hmm, nothing here after all." He dismisses.

Libby opens the safe first and finds gold and Goldenglows Bill of Sale. Reading it over briefly, Libby finds out he sold the estate. Tucking it away in her pocket, she empties out the chest next to it and takes the gold on the table on its right. Finally feeling comfortable enough to stand, she stretches high and opens the gate that leads to the other sewer opening.

With her mission completed, Libby doesn't hesitate to run through the sewer now cleared. She runs and jumps down a small hole that brings her back to the same intersection from before. She finds the mace still dangling and follows the tunnel by memory from there. Pumping her arms at her sides, and shifting her breathing, she barrels to the other end of the tunnel to the northwest.

Once back up top, it takes her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the sunlight. She blinks and flutters her eyes, shielding them with her hand. She looks around and finds the bee hives across the waterway. She sneaks back into the water and swims and sneaks so she's knows she's directly behind the hives. Hopping up on some rocks, she readies her lighter again.

She heads around one hive, not even bothering to try and hide this time. She twirls the lighter in her hand and sets it under the hive. The bees buzz and soon smoke billows up out from under. It surprises Libby how quickly the hive flares up, but moves on to the next. After the third begin to belch smoke, Libby hears one of the guards notice the smoke. Libby smiles deviously and instantly turns and swan dives into the water as she hears one yell, "Over here!"

Staying below the surface, she swims for a full count of a minute before her lungs burn for air. She dares to break the surface gasping for oxygen and her heart beating against her ribs. Her muscles flop as she fumbles to the shore. The mercenaries shout at one another to put out the fire, and Libby smiles through her bated breaths.

"Don't mess with the Guild bitch." She breathes. She allows herself a minute's rest before hauling herself to her feet and trying her best to ring out her uniform.

She walks back to Riften, ignoring the glances of her wet clothing and heads into the graveyard. Libby heads over to a shrine of Talos and plants herself in front of it to give the illusion she's praying. Waiting until after two guards pass by with an in-between time of five minutes, she gets up and goes into the mausoleum. Pressing the button, she peers over her shoulder and heads down the steps.

Within entering the Cistern, she finds Brynjolf near the eastern side of the circle near Mercer's desk. Libby takes a breath and can't hide her smile as she heads up the stone walkway.

Brynjolf spots her and smiles with her. "Word on the street is Goldenglow's been hit. Good job, lass."

Libby smiles bashfully. "Thanks. Oh, and here, this was in the safe." She hands Brynjolf the paper, which surprisingly stayed dry.

"Let me take a look at what you found." He says. Libby watches as he reads the bill. His eyes flicking across the page in-taking every word. "Aringoth sold Goldenglow? What's that idiot thinking? He has no idea the extent of Maven's fury when she' been cut out of a deal, but I'm certain he'll find out.

"Now if only the parchment had the buyer's name instead of this odd little symbol." Libby says.

"Any idea what that might be?" Brynjolf asks.

"No idea." Libby retorts.

"Blast," Brynjolf curses. "Well I'll check my sources and speak to Mercer. But for now, you're off to speak to Maven Black-Brier."

Libby gets wide-eyed. "What?"

"Yeah. She asked for you by name." Brynjolf says.

"Oh, okay." Libby fidgets.

"Nervous?"

"Very. Will I come out alive?" Libby asks and Brynjolf chuckles.

"Oh course lass. I can promise you that if Maven didn't think we were get the job done, she would've contacted someone else. She's on the reasons we still have a pull in Riften. So represent us well."

"So, what does Maven want with me?" Libby asks.

"That's between you and Maven, and I prefer to keep it that way." Brynjolf says. "Don't worry about it. Maven's business dealings usually involve quite a bit of gold for her people."

"Uh, speaking of which . . ."

"Of course, your pay." Brynjolf chuckles. "You're as smart as a whip, lass."

"Should I head out now?" Libby asks.

"Wait until dark. I'm sure Maven doesn't want things to seem, public." Brynjolf advises.

"Okay, I needed to be somewhere anyway." Libby says.

"Where are you off to?" Brynjolf asks raising an eyebrow.

"I'm meeting a friend of mine to go hunting in the woods."

"You're hunting?" Brynjolf questions with a suspicious smile.

"Well, I'm just killing it, she's the one skinning and gutting it." Libby rephrases. "But I'll be back before dark."

Libby then exits the Cistern. She jogs her way to the main gates, then riding her horse from the stables she heads north all the way to Winterhold, then to the southeast.

Inside the crypt, Libby paces back and forth to keep her mind off of the constant creaking and dripping and moaning of the room. She had already defeated the draugr about, but still she fears that one of the sarcophagus tops will pop off revealing another one of the annoying corpses.

Back in her younger years, she would constantly dead their awakening out of fear, but now she's ventured in enough crypts to have that fear morphed into annoyance. Corpses should stay dead. That's that. Coming up on ten minutes of waiting, she takes a seat on the stairs, her elbows to her knees. Her foot taps at a fast pace.

Then there's a kink on stone, and Libby instantly rises loading her bow. She faces a figure shadowed in darkness with a bow slung along her back. Libby lowers her own and sighs.

"Took you long enough." Libby says.

"I've actually been here, I just got tired of waiting for you to notice me." She replies.

Libby sheathes her bow. "Did you find the remains?" she asks, her voice nearly choking out.

"I did. And they still need to be put to rest. I'm not too keen on letting you see them though. Not like this."

Karliah says stepping into a shaft of light. Her violet eyes sparkle despite the ferocious swirling storm of anger inside.

"He was my father, Karliah. I deserve to see him." Libby argues.

"I understand, Libitania. I just wanted you to see him in a more, respectable way a man like Gallus deserves." says Karliah.

"I just . . . want to see him." Libby chokes. "He was my father."

"I've organized his remains, but they still need to be put to rest." Karliah says. "Follow me."

Gallus was the former Guild Master of the Thieves Guild and proud father to Libby. He was a master thief, and a promising scholar as well, and a natural born leader. She had little memory of Gallus, but Brynjolf once told her how he loved to play with her and bounce her on his knee. The entire thing sounds, silly for a place such as the Thieves Guild, but Brynjolf said that Gallus was always full of surprises. There were times he would mumble about how Libby reminds him of Gallus, similar personality and such. But Libby never really considered herself a leader, and didn't really felt like she deserved such a, compliment.

Karliah was Gallus's closest friend so she was constantly around Libby as a child and is more like a sister than mother. She and Gallus were very close, believed to be even lovers. Libby wouldn't mind if Karliah ever became her mother, it would be weird undoubtedly; yet it would still feel, appropriate.

Unfortunately, Gallus met his end when he was lured to the Sanctum by Mercer. Mercer then branded the murder on Karliah, and for twenty-five years she ran. When she finally cornered Libby one day back in Frostfall, she told Libby everything, and even without proof, Libby believed her. Her father trusted her, so she will too.

It also explained everything revolving around Mercer. His bitter attitude towards

As far as Libby is concerned, Mercer took both her father and Karliah from her. With Karliah forced to flee from the Guild, and Gallus dead, Libby would've lost all eminence of family if it weren't for Brynjolf "adopting" her. Since they reunited, Libby's been secretly meeting with Karliah; learning new combat moves, planning tactics and new strategies.

Now twenty-five years later, and Libby is determined to prove Mercer's betrayal. Even if it means turning against the Guild, and Brynjolf. Conspiring with Karilah is the highest of treason Libby could think of for the Guild. If they find out, they'll have her head and her hide. Hopefully she's earned enough of their trust and has established enough of a reputation for them to at least listen.

"Did you give them the paper?" Karliah asks.

"Yes. Showed them the symbol and Brynjolf said he'd consult Mercer. So it's going to happen. Gulum-Ei set?" Libby says.

"All set. Though I don't know what you plan to do during that time. He's more than willing to just give you the deed."

"I'll find a way. Also, I have a bit of a smaller plan we can add in; but it might be risky." Libby leaves it at that, and Karliah doesn't ask questions.

Libby follows Karliah into the very back of the crypt to a table poised in front of a wall with the old dragon writing etched across the stone. On the ceremonial table are skeletal remains set up so that it looks like it's lying on the table, hands to its side. Being in other crypts or even around the standing stones, Libby hesitates; worried it will come to life. Karliah approaches it and set her hands on the alter.

Libby approaches and stares at the head. She has half the mind to feel it, but she keeps her hands to herself. Her throat tightens so that a choking feeling makes her cough. This is all that remains of her father. Libby can't remember how old she was when she found out the news of her father's death, but it was enough to brand into her brain a new meaning of vengeance.

"Still can't believe Mercer managed to upper hand him." Libby mumbles.

"Mercer's deceivingly cunning. And Gallus wasn't clueless; only when he was close was when Mercer decided to strike." Karilah reminds.

"He was really the only family I had before. I should've taken better care of him. Protected him from Mercer for starters." Libby snarls.

"Don't be so hard on yourself. You were still young. And it's too late for that now." says Karliah.

"Maybe. But it's not too late to get vengeance on his killer. Mercer is _mine_." Libby says. Her face contorting into a fierce snarl.

"You'll have your vengeance. But we need to make sure we're one step ahead of Mercer. Admittedly I'm surprised we've managed to come this far, and to make sure it stays that way, we need to keep out guards up." Karliah says.

"I know. And I will. Our next step is Gulum-Ei." Libby says.

"Frankly this is all truly inspiring." Karliah smiles.

"To ensure an enemy's defeat, you must first undermine his allies." Libby quotes.


	8. Chapter 8

Heaving a sigh, Diamond lets her armor slide from her arms and examines her shoulder. A small hilt about the size of her pinky fingernail is pressed against her skin. Surrounding it is a patch of blue strands, like someone injected blue dye into the tiny veins just beneath the surface of her skin. Frowning, Diamond tries to peel the metal disc away from her arm, and feels a sharp pain.

Back in the sanctuary, Diamond and Veezara were greeted by the other members highly concerned. Diamond faintly remembers Veezara carrying her, then Babette fed her a drink with a healing potion. No one asked them about meeting the Faceless Women; besides it being obvious how it went, Diamond was the one who suffered the most wounds and thereby has the most information.

Gritting her teeth, Diamond wedges the flat of her knife blade under the crossguard and forces it up. Diamond screams into her teeth as the pain races through her, making everything go black for a moment. But she keeps pushing, as hard as she can, until the hilt lifts from her skin enough for her to her fingers around it. Attached to the bottom of the disc is the blade as thin as a needle.

Diamond gags, grasps the hilt in her fingertips, and pulls one last time. This time, the needle-point blade comes free. It's as long as her littlest finger and smeared with her blood. She ignores the blood running down her arm and holds the hilt and the needle up to the light above the sink.

Judging from the blue dye in her arm and the needle-point blade, the faceless woman must have injected her with something. But What? Poison?

Diamond shakes her head. If she wanted to kill her, she would've just stabbed or shot her. Whatever she injected Diamond with must not have gone into effect thanks to Babette's poison.

Someone knocks on the door. Diamond doesn't know why – this bathroom is shared, after all.

"Diamond, you in there?" Veezara's muffled voice asks.

"Yeah." Diamond calls back.

Veezara looks better than he did an hour ago – he carried Diamond all the way back to the sanctuary with only a minimal of three stops for rest. He washed the blood from his mouth, and some of the color has returned to his face.

Diamond puts the needle blade at the edge of the sink.

Veezara look from her to the needle-point blade in her hand to the line of blood running from Diamond's shoulder.

"Gross." He says.

"Wasn't paying attention," Diamond says. She sets the blade down and grabs a paper towel, mopping up the blood on her arm. "You say anything to the others yet?"

"I've told them my story, but they're more eager to hear yours." He says smiling. "Wait, you yanked that out of your own arm?" he points to the needle. "God, Diamond. Do you have no nerve endings or something?"

"I think I need a bandage."

"You think?" Veezara shakes his head. "You should get some ice for your face, too."

Diamond touches her jaw. It is tender where the faceless woman struck her – she'll need to drink another potion and put healing salve on it so it doesn't bruise.

"Babette have some salve I could use?" Diamond asks.

"Don't bother. Let it bruise; apart from your wound, it'll show the other members the fight you put up." Veezara says.

"A fight I ended up losing." Diamond growls fisting her hands. "Some assassin I am."

"Diamond, Astrid won't degrade you. We were both ambushed, and you put up more of a fight than I did. Heck, she knocked me unconscious in ten seconds. I'm sure _you'll_ be fine."

Diamond can't help but smile at Veezara's attempt to cheer her up. And rationally speaking, he did get knocked unconscious; and the fact that Diamond had put up most of the fight shows just how tough she can be. She glances up at her reflection. Her jaw is swollen, and fingernail marks are still on her arms. Disgusting. Still, Diamond exhales before heading out to the main chamber where Astrid has gathered the other members. Veezara follows after her.

Upon spotting them, Astrid runs over to Diamond. "Oh thank the gods you're alright."

She doesn't embrace Diamond, not that Diamond expects her to. So she simply nods, smiles and steps past her to post in front of the other members. She waits as Veezara joins the members, and Astrid comes to stand with her at the front of the crowd.

"We've only got what Veezara told us. But you're the one who fought face-to-face with the . . . faceless woman . . ." Astrid starts.

"Irony in itself." Diamond snickers.

"So what happened?"

Diamond sighs. "We were simply waiting for her when the arrow came shooting right at us. Without a word she immediately began to punch and kick and flail. Didn't even _want_ to talk to us. I assume she just called the meeting just to take us out; because she seemed ready to face more than one opponent."

"She probably called us there so that she could kill us, and show Astrid how powerful and merciless their group can be." Veezara adds.

"Except that their orders were to intimidate. They didn't kill us because hurting our pride stings more than a bite of a blade. They told me to tell you that Skyrim is their territory now, and we might as well give up. They've already slandered our name enough." Diamond reminds. "Astrid, she was good. She took us both down singlehandedly. And by now, honestly it would take a miracle to bring us back to the top."

"Well that does it!" Arnbjorn snarls. "They've made their decision, I say it's time we give them our regards!"

"Not so fast you blubbering oaf!" Frex hisses. "We don't even know where their sanctuary is! Not to mention they'll be expecting us now that they've struck us first. Like they won't see our retaliation coming."

"Frex is right." Astrid says. "It's clear The Faceless are shrewd. They have a propensity to predict what will happen in certain situations. We need to gather more information and make sure we're one step ahead of them."

"And how do you propose we do that? Who's to say they know we're trying to figure them out, and they're sending out all false information?" Veezara says.

"Well now you're being paranoid, Veezara." Nazir speaks. "Just because you got knocked out within ten seconds, doesn't mean much. Diamond managed to put up a fight."

_Barely_, Diamond thinks,_ and only because she said I had _some_ talent. If she had orders to kill, she would have._

"I'll try and see how discreet I can be at gathering information. Until then, avoid them at all costs." Astrid says.

"You mean we should just run?! We'll look like whelps!" Arnbjorn barks.

"We were lucky Diamond and Veezara came home alive, husband. I don't want to lose anyone at the hands of them." Astrid says. "We'll mind our own business for now, and when I'm confident I have enough knowledge, then we'll talk about taking them out. Understood?"

"Hmph."

The members then dismiss and Diamond was about to head to her bed when Astrid calls her over. Diamond internally groans but turns and follows Astrid to the desk outside her room.

"I apologize for the inconvenience, especially after your encounter, but I need your assistance with a matter of a more . . . personal nature." says Astrid.

Diamond walks up to Astrid and sits in the chair on the other side of the table against the wall. "Is something wrong?"

"It's Cicero. Ever since he arrived, he's behaviors been . . . Well, erratic would be an understatement. I do believe he is truly mad." Astrid explains. "But it's more than that. He's taken to locking himself in the Night Mother's chamber, and talking. To someone. In hushed, but frantic tones. Who is he speaking with? What are they planning? I fear treachery."

Dia rubs her forearm and shifts her feet. "Astrid, you're being a bit . . . paranoid."

"Maybe so, but healthy paranoia has saved this Sanctuary before, and my gut's telling me that demented little fool is up to something."

"So what do you want me to do?" Diamond asks crossing her legs.

"Dear sister, I need you to steal into that chamber, and eavesdrop on their meeting." Astrid advises. "It'll be no use clinging to the shadows. They'll see you for sure. No, you need a hiding place. Somewhere they'd never think to look."

Astrid smiles slyly.

"Like inside the Night Mother's coffin."

Diamond jerks her head up and doesn't hide her look of shock and repulsiveness at Astrid. If Astrid seemed offended, she didn't show it.

"But that seems so . . . disrespectful." Diamond stutters.

"Be that as is may, we have no other choice. You need to remain unseen!" Astrid retorts.

"I barely escaped with my life against the Faceless, and you want me to do this?!" Diaond argues.

"I gave you my apology in advance; and you're the only other person I can trust."

"Not even your own husband?"

"He's already rallied with The Faceless, if I mention this to him, he'll storm in there without thinking. Now go! Before they meet." Astrid commands.

"But - !"

"And report back to me with whatever you've learned." Astrid finishes.

Diamond purposely groans in annoyance as she rises from her seat.

"Go, quickly. Before Cicero and the traitor meet." Astrid rushes.

Diamond raises her hands and mumbles, "Okay, okay," as she trudges down the steps into the main chamber. She had half a mind to speak out against Astrid for once. Diamond's put up with her many fanatics before, but this is just plain weird and wrong. Even if it was from 'healthy paranoia' nothing good can come of this. One of Dia's worst fears is being trapped in a small space with a corpse.

She navigates her way up the steps past Lis' pit and into the Night Mother's chamber. The room itself has a big stain glass window that marks its part of the Sanctuary. The glass depicts a skull and skeletons to represent Sithis, with two Brotherhood banners on either side.

Diamond finds the coffin at the alter and notices it has a Novice lock on it. Thankfully Libby had shown her how to pick past it. She hears the tumbler of the lock click and the doors of the coffin open wide on their own. Diamond steps back as the wafting stench of decay skin and flesh infect her nose. She covers her mouth and gags as she steps back.

"Gods, fuck you Astrid." Diamond curses as she steps up to the coffin. "I'm sorry." She mumbles as she carefully places her feet and her arms around the Night Mother's body and pulls the doors closed with her toes.

There's a moment of silence, and all Diamond hears is the running of the water of the falls and the dropping of dew from the ceilings. The darkness of the coffin steals away any light, enveloping her completely. She tries to ignore the fact that there might be spiders and ticks crawling all over the corpse as she fears of Cicero being outside.

Soon there's the sound of humming and footsteps enter the chamber. Diamond steadies her breathing, slowly so that she won't inhale the stench of death.

"Are we alone? Yes . . . yes . . . alone. Sweet Solitude." He stretches out the words so long Diamond morphs his 'S' with the hissing of a snake. His maniacal laughter sends gooseskins across her arms and legs. "No one will hear up, disturb us. Everything is going according to plan."

Diamond's breath hitches in her throat. She tries to ignore the crawling sensation on her spine, not knowing if it's a spider or the chill of Cicero's banter.

"The others . . . I've spoken to them. And they're coming around, I know it. The wizard, Festus Krex . . . perhaps even the Argonian, and the un-child . . ." Cicero giggles.

Diamond leans more into the doors, her curiosity finally overtaking the nerves of the dead body she's practically hugging. Perhaps Astrid was right. Maybe Cicero is trying to rouse the Brotherhood into mutiny.

"What about you? He then asks. "Have you . . . have you spoken to anyone? No . . . no of course not. I do the talking, the stalking, the seeing and the saying!"

Cicero's voice tightens. His tone rises in volume to where he's nearly yelling. Diamond clutches the inside of the coffin tighter as her weight shifts the doors.

"And what do you do? Nothing!" he nearly screams. "Not . . . not that I'm angry! No, never!" He goes nearly quiet again after a deep breath.

_Of course you're not_, Diamond thinks.

"Cicero understands. Heh. Cicero always understands. And obeys." He nearly whines. "You will talk when you're ready, won't you? Won't you . . . sweet Night Mother."

"_Poor Cicero. Dear Cicero. Such a humble servant_." A whispered voice speaks.

Diamond freezes instantly. It was soft, seductive, and sultry. She felt no breath against her skin anywhere; but what scares her the most, it was inside the coffin.

Her body shivers from the top of her spine to her toes. Diamond slowly turns her head to the Night Mother, beads of sweat materializing on her forehead.

Her blood turns cold and her eyes widen as a pulsating light grows within the Night Mother; like someone had placed a candle in her and the flame is fighting to stay alive.

"_But he will never hear my voice. For he is not, the Listener_." She speaks. Her lips don't move, and her head stays slouched to the side. Diamond can't decide if that's better or worse.

The voice seemed to be more inside her head now, which feels even more intrusive. Diamond can't cover hears, which are ringing from the blood, and her heart is pounding. She swallows a lump in her throat and to fight back a wave of nausea. Her hands begin to shake.

Diamond nearly jumps when she hears Cicero again, realizing she's still in reality. Somehow.

"Oh, but how can I defend you?! How can I exert your will? If you will not speak?! To anyone!" Cicero says in frustration.

"_Oh, but I will speak. I will speak to you. For you are the one_." The Night Mother whispers. Diamond feels a scream clawing at her throat. "_Yes you_."

Diamond can't help but stare at her lips. Old and rotted, they flop away from her rotted teeth. She tries to find the slightest movement, something to show her that the Night Mother is alive. Something about finding movement comforts her. The voice inside her head is so intrusive that she can't help but try and believe she must be dreaming.

The light within the mother continues to glow.

"_You who shares my iron tomb, who warms my ancient bones. I give you this task - journey to Volunruud. Speak with Amaund Motierre_." The Night Mother says.

"Poor Cicero has failed you. Poor Cicero is sorry, sweet mother. I've tried, so very hard." Cicero cries. "But I just can't find the Listener!"

"_Tell Cicero the time has come. Tell him the words he has been waiting for, all these years: Darkness rises when silence falls_." She sibilates.

Diamond watches as the light inside her slowly fades away the instant the slightest scratch of stone upon stone rings in her ears. The doors open up and Diamond can only yelp as she falls back. With her trained reflexes, she rolls with her momentum into a backwards summersault landing on her feet inches from a shocked Cicero. Dread pools into her stomach.

"What? What treachery?!" he screams. "Defiler! Debaser and defiler!" He draws a dagger and Diamond is still to shaken up to even think about drawing hers. She still waits for the voice to speak again but nothing happens. Her hand shake violently that she doesn't even try and snap back at Cicero about defiance. "You have violated the sanctity of the night Mother's coffin! Explain yourself!"

Diamond tries to speak, but nothing comes out. Bile rises at the back of her throat, and she can't tear her eyes away from the Night Mother.

"Speak, worm!" Cicero demands.

Diamond manages to find her voice. "The Night Mother spoke to me!" she defends. Her voice shakes and she raises her hands in aegis. "She said, "I'm the one.""

"She . . . spoke to you?" Cicero's face debates for a moment before contorting into a fierce scowl. "More trickery and deceit! You lie! The Night Mother speaks only to the Listener! And there is . . . no . . . Listener!"

"Wait!" Diamond pleads. "She told me to tell you, "Darkness rises when silence dies."

Cicero's face goes completely placid, and Diamond's worried the words were made for him to signal to strike.

"She . . . she said that? She said those words . . . to you? "Darkness rises when silence dies"?" Cicero repeats. "But those are the words. The Binding Words. Written in the Keeping Tomes. The signal so I would know. Mother's only way of talking to sweet Cicero . . ."

Diamond takes cautious steps back as Cicero turns to face her. He suddenly claps and begins to dance.

"Then . . . it is true! She is back! Our Lady is back! She has chosen a Listener! She has chosen you! All hail the Listener!" Cicero cheers and laughs.

Then the door to the chamber opens and Astrid comes running in. Diamond feels her hands grab her shoulder and usher her back further from Cicero. "By Sithis, this ends now! Back away, fool! Whatever you've been planning is over!" she yells.

Diamond takes deep breathes to calm her abrupt heart rate.

"Are you all right? I heard the commotion. Who was Cicero talking to? Where is the accomplice?" Astrid interrogates. "Show yourself traitor!"

"I spoke only to the Night Mother!" Cicero interjects. "I spoke to the Night Mother, but she didn't speak to me. Oh no. She only spoke to her! To the Listener!" he points to Diamond and begins to dance again.

Astrid keeps a hand on Diamond's shoulder and steps in front of her. "What? The Listener? What are you going on about? What is this is lunacy?"

"It's true, it's true! The Night Mother has spoken! The silence has been broken! The Listener has been chosen!" Cicero cheers.

Diamond remains quiet as Astrid guides her outside the room. Cicero doesn't follow. When they're outside, Diamond's knees can't hold her weight and she falls to the floor, back against the wall.

Astrid kneels down and whispers gently. "When I heard Cicero screaming, I knew you'd been discovered. I feared the worst. Are you all right?"

"I . . ." Diamond's throat tightens so that she chokes. "I don't know. It happened so fast." Diamond finds her hands still shaking. She clenches them into fists so Astrid won't see.

"Okay, let's all just take a deep breath." Astrid coos. "What happened? Cicero spoke to the Night Mother, but she spoke to you. Is this just more of the fool's rambling?"

"It's, true. The Night Mother spoke to me. She said I was "the one." Diamond says.

"What?" says Astrid with surprise. "So Cicero wasn't talking to anyone else. Just . . . the Night Mother's body?"

Diamond nods.

"And the Night Mother, who, according to everything we know, will only speak to the person chosen as Listener . . . just spoke. Right now . . . to you?" Astrid clarifies.

"Yes." Diamond speaks. Her voice sounds distant, like it's been a while since she's used it.

"By Sithis." Astrid swears. "And, what did she say?"

"I must speak to someone named Amaund Montierre, in Volunruud."

"Amaund Montierre? I have no idea who that is. But Volunruud . . . that I have _heard_ of. And I know where it is."

Diamond pushes to her feet. "So, should I go to Volunruud? Should I talk to this man?"

Astrid leans against the wall and folds her arms. "Hmm. No. No!" she barks. "Listen, I don't know what's going on here, but you take your orders from me. Are we clear on that?"

"Why are you suddenly pissed at me?!" Diamond barks back. Her fury finally breaking through her confusion and shock. "You told me to go into the coffin."

"The Night Mother may have spoken to you, but I am still the leader of this family. I will not have my authority so easily dismissed." Astrid speaks.

Diamond sighs and folds her arms. She runs her fingers through her hair and closes her eyes for a moment. "Astrid, did I not just say before that we would need a miracle to overstep The Faceless?! Well this is it!"

"I . . . I need time to think about all this. Go see Nazir - do some work for him. Or go see Libby, I don't care. I'll find you when I'm ready to discuss the matter further." Astrid finalizes. She then turns and walks away, leaving Diamond with herself.

Diamond gets up and holds the wall momentarily. She peers into the next room at Cicero he turns his head abruptly that Diamond flinches. "Oh! You are the Listener! You are the Listener! I have served mother well, I have!"

Diamond eyes him with discomfort and speed walks out of the chamber, nearly plowing into Babette and through the front door. Outside, the cold air seeps through the fabric of her clothing and she pulls her jacket tight around her shoulders.

She slides her fingers through his hair and adjusts her ponytail. She wants to go to Libby. Riding a carriage would seem logical, but Diamond's so filled with stalled adrenaline that she can't stop herself. She walks faster. And faster and faster, until she's sprinting. The air rushing around her body. Pumping her arms, she runs down the hills, through Falkreath, until she reaches the carriage on the other side of the village.

Diamond nearly stumbles into the carriage but catches herself on the post. She pulls herself onto the wood and lays on her back, heaving air in and out of her lungs as beads of sweat form on her forehead.

"Are you all right?" the driver asks.

Diamond only nods and tosses a coin purse his way. "Riften." She breathes.

"Is someone after you? Maybe you should tell the guards."

"I'm fine!" she snaps, but she quickly retorts. "I'm fine. Just get me to Riften. Please."

The driver nods and turns around to face the front he snaps the reins on the horse and after a snort, Diamond feels the carriage lurch forward.

* * *

Libby leans against the wall to the open training room, holding back a wince of pain. Her shoulder throbs where Vex struck her. Now that she's been performing more important assignments for the Guild, Brynjolf's made her spend hours training. Vex is her trainer, they wiry Imperial second only to Mercer in skill with a blade.

"If you'd stop making mistakes, you wouldn't hurt so much," Vex says, pacing before her. "To your feet. It's time to dance."

Libby pushes herself off the wall, knowing Vex would continue whether she was ready or not. For hours they danced, blunted practice swords whirling and clanging as they parry, riposte, and block. Of all Libby's teachers of combat, Vex is by far the best, as well as the most enjoyable to be with. She laughs, she jokes, she says things about men that make Libby's stomach hurt from laughing. When it comes to swordplay, though, she takes the dance seriously. The joy fades from her eyes like a fire buried in dirt. After an error, she'd explain to Libby what she'd done wrong. Should she react too slowly, or too foolishly, that'd be corrected as well. Sometimes Vex explains in great detail what to do, and when. Most often, though, she smacks Libby with her knife and let the pain do the teaching.

This practice is particularly brutal. Vex wanted to hone Libby's dodging ability. Denying her the ability to use her sword in defense, or to strike back, Vex swings and stabs with incredible speed. The problem is that Libby's initial reaction is always to block or parry, not dodge. Other teachers might have taken away Libby's sword, but Vex would have none of it.

"You'll learn to control your instincts, otherwise they'll control you," Vex says. Again and again the sword cracks against Libby's shoulders, her head, and her hands. Whenever Libby tries to raise her sword, Vex's other blade would shoot out, parry it away, and then slap Libby across the face.

At last, when both were exhausted and dripping with sweat, Vex called the training done.

"You're getting better," Vex says. "I know it's tempting to show off how good you are at positioning your blades, but sometimes, especially with stronger opponents, it's best to just get out of the way. Once you're reacting quicker, we'll work on integrating those dodges into your normal defensive patterns."

And with that, Libby is dismissed. Her teacher gone, she rubs her shoulder, a part of her wanting to massage it. But massages meant pain, and pain meant failure, at least when it comes to training with Vex. After all, is she would just dodge like she was supposed to, she wouldn't have a bruise on her. So she puts it out of her mind as best she can, wipes more sweat from her face onto her sleeve, and walks out of the training room.

With it being close to dusk, members of the Guild are about the Cistern. Cynric was over by the open archery station near the Vault, Etienne and Thrynn observing while Niruin was sharpening his blade. Libby sighs and kneels down at the edge of the moat and splashes her face with some of the cold water. She pats her face and feels a tap on her shoulder. Vipir stands over her with a rag in hand.

"Thanks." Libby smiles.

"Another rough day with Vex?" he snickers.

"You have no idea. And the fact that I have to meet Maven in an hour only ads to my anxiety. I can't go to her smelling like the ass of a mule." Libby says.

"We live in the Ratways. It is probably to be expected." Vipir reminds.

"Well still it doesn't hurt to look presentable." Libby takes down her hair and ruffles her fingers through it, feeling her follicles tingle in relief makes her sigh. She ruffles it more before flipping it to one side.

Vipir sits down next to her, his ankles dipping into the water. He leans forward, hands to his knees while Libby hugs hers to her chest. They sit in silence and Libby glances around the Cistern.

"You'd think those jobs would pay off by now." Libby murmurs.

"Things take time, Libby. Riften wasn't built in a day." says Vipir.

"Any advice before I meet Maven?" she asks.

"Besides don't muck it up?" Vipir teases, resulting in a punch to the arm from Libby. "I'm sure you'll be fine. Just look professional, talk about only business."

Libby nods and pushes up from her seat. She hears her name called and finds Brynjolf walking towards her. "I'm about to head out, no need to remind me." Libby smirks.

"Actually, you may need to dely." He says, and Libby quirks an eyebrow at him. "You've got company."

Libby gives him a look of confusion for the briefest moment before she realizes his meaning. Libby peers over his shoulder, and he steps aside in time to find Diamond colliding into her and gathering her frantically in a hug.

"Diamond? Diamond, what's wrong?" Libby asks nervously.

Diamond only muffles into Libby's cuirass, something between sobbing and asking why she smelt bad. Libby gathers her in her arms and strokes her head, glancing at Brynjolf who only looks to her in surprise. Libby pets Diamond's head and kisses the crown of her head. She whispers, "It's okay," as she feels Diamond begins to shake. Libby guides Diamond through the Cistern and to the Flaggon, keeping an arm around her shoulder to shield from the Guild members.

The only word she managed to catch through Diamond's mumbling was the word: Listener.


	9. Chapter 9

"And . . . and then she gets like pissed at me and goes: "You follow my orders. I will not be overruled by a dead corpse!" Diamond impersonates. Libby nods, following along.

Diamond had stammered into the Cistern a wreck. She was on the near verge of crying when she crashed into Libby. Now after hearing the story of how she was forced to hide in a coffin with a dead corpse, Libby now understands that the crying was from being overwhelmed, rather than scared. Diamond's tough. She doesn't scare easily.

"All because she was paranoid!" Diamond finishes. She slams her palms on the table out of fury, rattling the plate of food and Libby's mug.

After escorting Diamond out of the Cistern, they entered the Flaggon and Libby had them sit at the table at the very front of the Flaggon; near Tonilia's usual setup. Libby had ordered Diamond some Black-Brier Mead and added a spoonful of honey to make it taste sweeter. Dia doesn't drink much, so she didn't finish it.

Libby glares at Diamond. "I can't believe she made you do that. And not have like, the slightest bit of genuine concern for you."

"No, no, she did." Diamond defends. "She was concerned that her information was lost!" she suddenly retorts.

"So, it was, in your head?" Libby asks.

"Yes! It was the freakiest think I've ever experienced. And then, ew, Cicero starts dancing like a freaking dumbass and starts to cheer about me being the Listener." Libby giggles as Dia describes Cicero's dancing. "And then Astrid like, dismisses me, being all: Go do this for Nazir while I go over what just happened to you. I'll just let you deal with it yourself!"

"She said that?"

"No, but it was implied." Dia takes another swing of her drink. "I mean, I've done stuff for her in the past, but that was just, wrong."

"Wow."

There's a moment of silence while the other member walk around the Flaggon. "So, are you, okay?" Libby asks.

"I'm not, okay, but I feel better. No one in the Brotherhood would ever care." Dia snarls.

"Well, maybe they would. I mean it sounds like an honor to be the Listener. Sounds like Astrid was intimidated by you."

"What's so special about having that _dead corpse_ inside my head?!" Diamond denies. "I mean, I get it. She's sacred, she's special. But I just . . . I felt so, violated. And I know that sounds weird and wrong, but I -!"

Libby grasps Dia's shoulder and pulls her head into her shoulder. "It's okay." Libby coos. She pets Dia's head gently, caressing her hair. Dia sniffs and wipes her cheeks with the heel of her hand. "It's okay. I'm sorry you feel like no one cares."

Diamond only shakes her head. "It's not that, it's more like . . . like they seem to care more about information than the actual members. I mean I know that seems to be expected from an assassination group, but; I don't know, I just expected it to be different. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah." Libby says. Diamond had heard that a thousand times. But looking at Libby, seeing her stern and intent, Diamond knew without a doubt that she believed Libby. "I mean, I kind of feel jealous of you. You seem to sound like something special and gifted. I mean next to the Dragonborn, this sounds pretty important."

"Great, a lot more pressure and weight on my shoulders." Diamond belittles. "Now I have more responsibility and Astrid intimidated. That can't be good in the long-run."

"I don't have any easy answers, but I do know this. You can always come to me, or the Guild. You're always more than welcome." Libby assures.

She clutches her mug. "It's just, I've never had any real friends; and I guess, a part of me was hoping that the Brotherhood would be different, but it all seems, played."

"Hey, you've got me. You'll never lose me."

Diamond turns to her, and somewhere in the haze of anger they wrap their arms around each other. Their friendship has held up under an incredible weight, the weight of Libby losing her parents, the weight of so many loses. Other bonds would have broken. For some reason, this one hasn't.

They stay clutched together for a long time, until the desperation fades.

"Thanks," Diamond says. "You won't lose me, either."

"I'm pretty sure if I was going to, I would have already." Libby smiles. "Listen, I hate to do this, but I need to leave soon."

Diamond groans. "Where are you going?!"

"I'm off to meet Maven Black-Brier."

Diamond's eyes widen and Libby nods as she adjusts her braid. "I know."

"Are you going to come back?" Diamond asks, and it worries since she can't decide if it's just to tease her, or a serious question.

"Brynjolf says so."

"Can I . . . tag along?"

"Diamond . . ."

"Come on! I want to see this badass bitch for myself. See if she's just as impressive." Diamond persuades.

"Diamond, you heard Mercer. We can't be seen in public together." Libby reminds.

"Ugh, come on. He'll never know."

"Mercer always knows. And I don't want him to find out and know I gave in." Libby says. "Besides, this is Maven and she asked only for me. If I so much as bring another person, she'll probably kill our deal."

"Even if it's a member of the Brotherhood?"

"I don't know, but I don't want to take any chances." says Libby. She adjusts her hood and tucks her braid inside. "And besides, it's said she has an overinflated ego, and I'm afraid you'll slice her throat at the slightest snotty comment."

"Eh, good point. But what am I supposed to do while you're gone?" Diamond asks.

"You're more than welcome than to hang around the Cistern, just don't break anything. And, I'm pretty sure Cynric's in there." Libby smiles.

"No! Shut up!" Diamond squeals as she covers her face. Her cheeks grow warm and she lets a giggle escape.

"Just hang out in there until I get back. You can hang with Rune, Thrynn, Etienne. Vipir can give you pickpocket training, and Delvin sneak."

"You saying I need sneak training?" Dia snipes.

"Remember when we first met?" Libby says.

"Yes."

"You're still not better."

Diamond goes to slap Libby, but she dodges at the last second and Dia nearly stumbles into Tonilia. Libby catches her and help her regain balance.

"I'm sure you'll be fine." Libby says. "I'll see you when I get back."

"I'll just follow you since I'll be spending time in the Cistern." Diamond says.

Diamond follows Libby through to the Cistern and up to the ladder that leads up to the mausoleum above. When her feet are the last to go aboveground, Diamond turns and was about to head to the training room like Libby said, but she bumped into a hard-muscled body. Strong fingers reach out and grab her arms.

"Oh sorry . . ." Diamond looks up and feels her blood roars in her ears. She can't breathe for a moment.

Cynric Endell holds her steady as she feels her knees weaken for a second before she forces them to lock.

"Whoa, whoa. Are you okay?" he asks, keeping his grip on Diamond's arms. His green eyes are a concentrated shade of pale jade.

Diamond opens her mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. Just mumbling that she can't seem to stop. Her cheeks grow warm, so she gathers her senses and forces her lips to move at her command.

"Yes. Uh, yeah. I'm fine." she stutters. She quickly steps away and covers her face with her cowl.

"Are you sure?" Cynric asks.

"Yes!" Diamond snaps, quickly clearing her throat. "Yeah, I was just, heading to the training room."

She pads her way over to the archway which seems father than before, carefully keeping her eyes on Cynric as she watches with a weary look. Diamond bumps into the stone and nearly fumbles.

"Hehe, bye." She says before sidestepping into the room.

Diamond ducks under the archway and into the training room. She flops on a hay stack and sighs.

"Could you move?" a voice asks.

Diamond jostles upright and finds the elf, Niruin with a loaded bow, the point aimed directly at Diamond. Her eyes widen before she scampers out of the way and into the chests used for lockpicking practice.

Niruin lets the arrow fly around and it hits the target dead center. He quickly loads another arrow and holds for a second, shifting his aim up and nailing the target above. Diamond knows enough about him since he's Libby's archery trainer. She would always tease Libby about why they haven't become a thing yet since they spend so much time together and Libby would only smile and shake her head.

He doesn't seem to mind Diamond's company and since Diamond can't bring herself to go back out – what with Cynric about and Mercer with his domineering glare – so she pulls out her dagger and walks over to the practice dummy. There were already many other slashes and sloppy stitching along its body and entrails of straw overflow out of the gashes. Diamond closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before spinning her dagger and slashing at the dummy.

She keeps her eyes closed as she imagines a guard hurdling towards her. Diamond slashes her blade then spins low and slashes again, imagining she nicked him in the stomach. She then readies her fist and brings it swinging and feels the crunch of straw beneath her knuckles.

"Be careful." Niruin interrupts, but Dia doesn't reply back.

She instead navigates her way through the darkness to her proclaimed original spot. Fluttering her eyes, she's in front of the dummy again and swings at its head. Her hand hits the wood and she feels a splinter embed itself in the side of her hand. Diamond swears and drops her weapon to hold her wrist.

"Break a nail, Diamond?" Niruin sheathes his bow.

"I got splinters you asshole!" Diamond hisses. Her anger blazing from the pain in her hand.

It takes most of her control not to punch Niruin when he snickers as she approaches her.

"Let me help." He says.

"I've got it." Diamond sourly denies.

"No you don't." Niruin retorts.

"I said I -! Hey!" Diamond squeals.

Niruin grabs her by the shoulder and forces her to sit down in a chair near the back of the room. He pulls up a seat next to her. Diamond tries to get up but Niruin is ready. He gets up before her, puts his hand on her shoulder and forces her down again.

"I can do this all day. I'm not going anywhere." He says. "Just let me help. What's so wrong with that?"

Diamond can't answer. Truly nothing is wrong, but her being so prideful. So she sighs and holds out her hand. Niruin digs through his back pockets and pulls out a pair of tweezers, and a thin sewing needle. Diamond instantly retracts her hand.

"Whoa! What's that for?!" she demands.

"Just give me your hand, don't be so paranoid." Niruin says.

The word paranoid agitates Diamond to the core. She doesn't want to be like Astrid; whose paranoia is what made Diamond go into the coffin. In perspective, Diamond is friends with Libby, so the other Guild members have no reason or intention to hurt her unless something happens to Libby that's Diamond's fault, or her faction's fault. So really, she should naturally trust Niruin, since he seems to already trust her.

"Will is hurt?" she asks as he aims the sewing needle at her palm.

"No, though you may feel some pinching." He answers.

Diamond takes a deep breath as she feels the tip of the needle poke at her skin. She can't seem to look at his work, so she occupies herself by keeping her gaze around the room, and near the doorway. She grunts slightly as the pinches get harder, and clenches her jaw.

"I think we're bonding." She teases. Niruin chuckles and Diamond feels happy when she realizes it's genuine.

Her hand twitches and she shudders when she feels him pull something out from under her skin. This process goes on for a minute.

"How many are there?" she asks annoyed.

"Quite a few, but I'm only getting the ones that I figured would hurt. The others will come out on their own." Niruin says.

After another minute, Diamond's hand is stiff. When Niruin pulls out the last splinter, Dia clenches her hand into a fist and folds and unfolds her fingers. The pain is gone, though she sees more of them on the surface of her skin.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Niruin says as he gets up, tucking away his equipment. Diamond watches him stretch and shrug out his shoulders.

Going over the members in her head, a twinge of jealousy pinches her chest. Most of the Guild members seem, genuine. Diamond had expected it to be much like the Brotherhood. A family, but still divided; where it's every man of him or herself, and if one gets caught no one is going to save you. But the Thieves Guild is surprisingly different. Members talk to one another, they listen, and it almost is like a family. Despite what Sapphire said to Diamond, about it not being a family but a business; Diamond thinks she's wrong.

"_Why do you care anyway? It's not like we're family, this is a business_." She told Diamond, yet she's more than willing to talk and listen to Libby.

Libby had so many people to talk to, and instead of them tolerating her, they actually listen. Their bond is, real. Libby had Brynjolf, Rune, Sapphire, Thrynn, Niruin, Cynric; practically everyone but Mercer and maybe Tonilia to talk to. Yet Diamond, Diamond only had Libby. Despite the loss of her parents, Libby managed to regain anther family, whereas Diamond got a rather, dysfunctional one. But then again, Diamond was never one to go around loving everyone she meets, and family shouldn't matter on size, but on the love and comfort they give you.

That feeling of belonging.

Niruin catches Diamond staring, though she doesn't look away. She's lost in her own trance.

"Something on your mind?" Niruin asks.

"Do you think I would belong here? Instead of the Brotherhood?" Diamond bluntly asks, her face serious.

Niruin stares at her for a few seconds before he speaks. "It's your choice, Diamond; not mine. It's not my place nor is it my purpose to tell you how you can and can't live."

"But do you think, if I did join the Guild, I'd be better?" Diamond pushes.

"That depends." Niruin folds his arms and leans against the wall. "Do you enjoy killing people?"

Diamond looks down to her hands cradled in her lap. She gets a, thrill and satisfaction by killing. But with the Guild, unless given permission, you can't kill anyone.

"Yes." She mumbles.

"Well, whether you like it or not, you are a natural born assassin. And since the Guild prohibits you against using your, natural abilities, it doesn't seem like the place for you. What made you think that?" Niruin asks.

"I just, I see Libby with all these people Libby has around the Guild to talk to, and I have, no one." Diamond says.

"You don't trust anyone in the Brotherhood?"

"It's not that. They seem attached to one another, just not me. I'm like that new kid."

"Well there you go." Niruin points out. He pulls up a chair across from Diamond. "How long have you been in the Brotherhood?"

"Uh, four years."

"So you're still technically new. And therefore you're being treated as the new student, the whelp." Niruin explains. "Libby's been here since she was a little girl. And through the years, she slowly earned her respect from the other members. Perhaps you need to just give it more time."

Diamond shrugs her shoulders.

"Is it more of the family you want? Or someone to just listen?" Niruin asks.

"Both. I mean, all I have is Libby. And sometimes I just wish I was a thief rather than an assassin. Things seem easier."

"Diamond, sometimes it's not about what you want, but what you are. You are an assassin. It's in your blood." says Niruin. "Not using your natural abilities would be like the Dragonborn refusing to speak. Which, from what I heard, he tried for a while after his first Thu'um nearly deafened the entire town of Riverwood. So it's understandable what you're going through, but not being yourself is never the answer."

"So what do I do?" Diamond asks.

"Learn from what happens. Anyone here would be happy to train you if the resources you have isn't enough. Practice until you gain control, and regain your confidence."

Diamond looks to Niruin and can't help but smile. She feels a fluttering of happiness in her chest and fidgets with a giddy feeling. "Wait, you won't tell anyone, will you?"

"Nothing leaves this room." Niruin promises. He then gets up and heads out.

"Nuruin," Diamond calls. He turns back. "Thanks. This was, nice."

Niruin smiles. "Anytime. Hope to see you around the Guild."

* * *

Libby heads into the Bee and Barb at around midnight. By then, Keerava and the guests have mostly gone to sleep. Still there are a few lingering drunkards and customers, and Talen-Jei sweeps around the tables. He sees Libby and gives her a small smile; Libby smiles back.

He used to give Libby crap about what she did to Keerava. Back when Libby was just new to the Guild work schedule, she was sent to obtain money from three store owners, one being Keerava. She had used the knowledge of family against her to get her to pay, and Talen-Jei held a grudge against her. But after Libby had retrieved three, clean, flawless amethysts for Talen-Jei's engagement ring for Keerava, he seemed to lighten up. His likeness for the Guild hasn't changed, just Libby.

Libby enters through the northwest entrance and heads up a staircase to her immediate left. The upstairs holds all the rooms, and Libby finds Maven sitting at a table with a slice of bread in her hand.

According to Mjoll the Lioness, Maven has strong ties with the Dark Brotherhood and the Thieves Guild, making her the most influential person in Riften. When asked about her influence, Maven claims that she has Jarl Laila Law-Giver and the Riften Guard in her pocket. She is able to influence the outcome of any situation with Septims or by exploiting the fear that her allies will retaliate.

She has powerful ties, and not just the Guild or the Blue Palace in Solitude. Libby flicks her hood over her head and approaches her. Libby can't help but feel like she's approaching a snake, the venomous kind.

Maven looks to her. "So you're the one. Hmm. You don't look so impressive."

Libby snarls. "How about we skip the conversation?"

"You're a firebrand aren't you? It's about time Brynjolf sent me someone with business sense. I was beginning to think he was running some sort of beggar's guild over there." says Maven.

"You have no faith in the Guild?" Libby asks.

"Faith?" Maven snickers. "I don't have faith in anyone. All I care about is cause and effect. Did the job get done and was it done correctly? There's no grey area."

"Where do I begin?"

"Head to the Bannered Mare in Whiterun and look for Mallus Maccius. He'll fill you in on all the details." Maven explains.

Libby nods and turns about to leave when Maven speaks up again.

"One more time in case I wasn't clear. You butcher this job, and you'll be sorry." She threatens, and Libby has to prevent herself from laughing. Aside from getting shunned by the Guild, Libby could so easily and willingly slice Maven's head off with ease.

Libby only stares at her without flinching and then turns to head down the stairs. She exits the Bee and Barb and takes a deep breath. Whiterun. A part of her wants to bring Diamond along simply because they always travel together. But Mercer's orders forbid it. And with no way to contact Diamond without calamity, she'll just have to travel without word. Hopefully Diamond can figure it out.

The trip lasts hours. How many total Libby can't keep track. All she does know is that it's near dawn by the time she arrives to Whiterun. The Bannered Mare is open all hours of the day, with the exception of holidays.

Libby pushes through the front gate, giving the guards a courteous nod. She heads straight down the road to the end of the Plain District where the Bannered Mare sits atop a hill. Walking in, a warm breath of air flutters Libby's face.

"Come in, have a seat. I'm sure I've got a clean mug around here somewhere." The owner says. A sweet woman named Hulda.

Libby gives her a smile and looks around the inn. She finds a man sitting alone in the back corner of the kitchen. That has to be Mallus. Libby approaches with a little skip in step to imitate a young girl who found her friend.

When the man looks up at Libby he almost gives a look of annoyance. "Can't a man drink in peace?"

"Maven said you're expecting me." Libby says.

"I'm going to keep this short 'cause we've got a lot to do." He says, and Libby nods. "Honningbrew's owner, Sabjorn, is about to hold a tasting for Whiterun's Captain of the guard and we're going to poison the mead."

"You have the poison?" Libby asks, taking a seat across from Mallus.

"No, no. that's the beauty of the whole plan." He says. "We're going to get Sabjorn to give it to us. The meadery has quite a pest problem, and the whole city knows about it. Pest poison and mead don't mix well, you know what I mean?"

"How do I fit in this?" Libby asks.

"You're going to happen by, and lend poor old Sabjorn a helping hand." Mallus explains. "He's going to give you the poison to use on the pests, but you're also going to dump it into the brewing vat."

"Clever." Libby credits.

"Maven and I spent weeks planning this. All we need is someone like you to get in there and get it done. Now get going before Sabjorn grows a brain and hires someone else to do the dirty work."

Libby nods and gets up. "Can I ask, why are you dog all this?"

Mallus sighs. "I struck a deal with Sabjorn years ago. I work my fingers to the bone and still he refuses to pay my debt. I work like a slave and receive little payment." He growls. "I need that bastard to pay. Then I take over and Maven has no more competition."

"Ah." Libby says. "Will you be there later?"

"The tasting is soon, I won't say, but yes I will. If it all goes well, I want to see Sabjorn get led away in chains."

"And on that pleasant note I'll be off."

"Remember, Sabjorn will be needing a helping hand. Make it look good."

Libby exits through the door in the kitchen and heads down the steps. Since the carriage gives rides to only the capital cities, she'd have to go on foot.

Passing through the gates, Libby alternates between walking and jogging as she approaches the meadery outside of town. She debates on changing clothes, since Mallus said to look good, but this job sounds complicated, and the last thing Libby needs is getting infected with a debilitating disease from those vermin.

Approaching the meadery, Libby decides to undo her hair and unbutton the straps around her neck to show a more casual vibe. Hopefully the man doesn't recognize Guild armor. Her hair falls in waves around her shoulders and she wipes her hands on her thighs. Here goes nothing.

When she enters, who nose instantly wrinkles in disgust. Over in the corner is a dead skeever, splatters of blood under its body. Sabjorn stands in front of the counter.

"What are you gawking at? Can't you see I have problems here?" he speaks.

"Is something wrong?" Libby asks, her tone higher to produce a more feminine demeanor.

"Are you kidding me? Look at this place." Sabjorn says. "I'm supposed to be holding a tasting of the new Honningbrew Reserve for the Captain of the Guard. If he sees the meadery in this state, I'll be ruined."

"I might be able to help." Libby suggests.

"Oh really? And I don't suppose you'd just do it out of the kindness of your heart, would you?" Sabjorn questions. "I hope you're not expecting to get paid until the job is done."

"You had better, or I yell "Skeever!" Libby intimidates.

"Okay, okay. No need to make rash decisions." Sabjorn submits. "Here's half. You get the rest when the job's done."

Libby takes the gold with an overly-pleasant smile.

"My only demand is that these vermin are permanently eliminated before my reputation is completely destroyed." says Sabjorn.

"So how do I "permanently" clear the vermin?" Libby asks.

"I bought some poison. I was going to have my lazy, good-for-nothing assistant Mallus handle it, but he seems to have vanished." says Sabjorn. "If you plant this in the vermin's nest, it should stop them from ever coming back."

"You've got a deal."

"Don't come back until every one of those things are dead." Sabjorn orders.

Libby nods and gives him a salute before she heads into the meadery room. There are barrels everywhere with sacks on a level above. Libby puts her hair in a simple ponytail with no time to braid her hair. A small staircase leads down to the cellar, and Libby can see a splatter of blood along with several bear traps. She takes a breath and enters the cellar.

Upon entering, three dead skeever bodies lie before her. Libby goes into stealth and readies her dagger. She spots the first skeever and stalks close to it. The rat-like creature stands on its hind legs and sniffs. Libby grips it by the tail and stabs it through the chest. Killing animals is much easier than people.

She dodges out of the way as another comes leaping at her head. It hisses and as it tries to leap again, Libby brings her dagger up and it stabs it through the throat. She slaps the thing to the floor, freeing her dagger in the process. Wiping the blood on the fur, she continues on. Heading down into a tunnel through the meadery, she steadies her feet as she comes to a small cave with more of the vermin. Each die easily with one slash of her blade.

Heading deeper in still, the walls become lined with webs. Libby breaks through them, keeping them away from her face and ensuring she doesn't get many in her hair. Frostbite spiders hiss and raise their front legs at her in hatred. Libby slashes one, before dodging a spit of web from another. Rolling up on one knee, she stabs the second through the head, then spins and nicks a smaller one. On the final spider, Libby first kicks under it before jabbing the hilt at its skull.

She shudders. "I hate these things."

She hustles down the tunnel and comes to a small area with stacks of hay and several bear traps. As she finds another opening on the other side, she finds a tripwire. By activation a mace comes swinging down. This disturbs Libby slightly. Knowing Sabjorn and Mallus couldn't have set these up, what did? Who did?

Libby takes cautious steps as she venture further. Staying low she slides down a small hill and finds the passage leads to another room. Up ahead, the silhouette of skeevers walk through the mist. Libby manages to sneak up on one and kill it, but it squeals and alerts another. Libby rolls to the side as it comes over and sniffs the dead body of its comrade. Libby come up and stabs her blade through its skull. The body goes limp, and Libby continues on.

She's just passing a wall of rocks when there's an explosion.

It's like fire blossoming from a bud. Chunks of rock and dirt spray from the center of the bloom, and Libby's body is among them, a limp projectile. She feels her body slam into something hard, either another rock or the wall, then there's another adamantine smack of the packed earth beneath her. An acrid smoke fills the air, which is not the best remedy for someone trying to regain the ability to breathe. A deep rumble moves through Libby like a shudder.

As she tries to push herself to her feet, she hears the hissing and her body goes cold. She dodges and grips a stalactite just as another fiery explosion thrusts her body against the ceiling. Her nails can't dig into the stone before another hissing hurdles toward her. Libby drops and pain stabs her jaw and spreads across her face, making her vision go black at the edges and her ears ring. She blinks and lurches to the side as the room dips and sways.

_What the hell?!_

Libby blinks and finds a shirtless man running towards her, wards of lightning and fire in his hands. Libby is too off-balance to do anything but move away from him, as far as her legs will allow. There's the zapping sound of lightning, and soon Libby feels the electric current bite her in the leg, then lick its way up her thigh and through her shoulders. A scream of pain bursts from her mouth and she feels dizzy.

"You never should have come here!" The man taunts.

He grabs a handful of Libby's hair and slams her head against something hard. The man darts in front of Libby and kicks her hard in the stomach. His foot forces the air from her lungs and it hurts, hurts so badly Libby can't breathe, or maybe that's because of the kick, she doesn't know, she just falls.

_On your feet_ is the only thought in her mind. She pushes herself up, but the man is already there. He grabs her hair again and punches her in the nose with the other. The pain is different, less a stab and more like a crackle, crackling in her brain, spotting her vision with different colors, blue, green, red. He punches her again, this time in the ribs. Libby's face is wet. Bloody nose. More red, she guess, but she's too dizzy to look down. The blood streaming from Libby's nose is thick and dark and covers her fingers in seconds.

Libby falls again, scraping her hands on the ground, blinking, sluggish and slow and hot. She coughs up spits of blood and drags herself to her feet. She really should be lying down if the room is spinning this fast. There's the pinching of skin and Libby can feel saliva of the skeevers. Annoyed, Libby rolls rover so the animal's beneath her and slashes her blade deep into the side of its neck. Flames chomp her from the side and Libby almost falls again.

_On my feet. On my feet_! Libby screams, a high screech that belongs to someone else and not her. Libby tackles the man and pins him to the ground. Libby punches, and the man moves his head out of the way, but Libby punches again, and again, until her fists hit his jaw, his nose, his mouth. Libby digs her nails into his skin as if it's a wall she has to climb, she claws her way up his body. Blood runs down the side of the man's face and splatters on the ground next to his cheek.

Libby is screaming, harsh bursts of sound that flay the air with their fury. It's as if all her anger, at anything in the world was now condensed into theses screams along with her flailing fists. The man howls and drags one of his arms free. He punches Libby in the ear, knocking her off balance and wriggles free. His hand glows gold and Libby can tell it's a healing spell. She snarls and grabs the man's wrist and snaps his hand backwards. He cries out a howl of pain and Libby reaches for her dagger.

She flips the blade out, grabs the man by his hair at the forefront of his skull, keeping his head pinned down and drives her knife deep into his chest; burying it to the hilt. He sags deflating slowly onto the dirt. His blood seeps along the knife hilt, thick and warm, and coats Libby's hands.

She doesn't care.

The anger of his flames and lightning nipping her body fuels her rage, and she stabs him again, this time in the stomach. The annoying ability that he can run and heal himself while she's left to drip blood. She stabs him again, this time slashing his face. Blood springs from it and splatters on her face. Anger of other past occasions. Another stab to the chest.

Suddenly Brynjolf's face flashes in her head and Libby gasps and practically falls off the man's body as if she had ben flung back by an invisible force. She gasps and scoots herself back against the wall. She breathes through gritted teeth, staring at the man's blood-covered face, the color deep and rich and beautiful, in a way.

He groans, and Libby hears a gurgling in his throat, and he stills. The other skeevers are dead, probable caught in the crossfire.

Libby can feel blood trickle from her eyebrow and lip. She wipes the sweat from her forehead.

Libby struggles to her feet, wiping blood from her eyebrow with her sleeve.

"It's over." She mutters to herself. "I won."

Libby stays pressed to the wall for a moment, letting the feeling of nausea well through her. Vomiting might actually be a relief. The adrenaline starts to finish its course through her body, and Libby holds her stomach. She coughs to encourage it, but her stomach is empty.

She sits on a rock for a moment, holding her head in her head. Looking to the far left of the room, there's the nest and an alchemy lab. Libby's heart leaps in her throat, and suddenly all the pains in her body vanish for seconds as she hurries over to the lab. There's a chest next to it with a bottle of Vigorous Healing lying atop it.

Libby frantically takes the bottle, popping the cork and gulps the entire bottle down; the liquid tastes like spoiled berries, but as soon as it passes her throat, her nausea is instantly gone. As her pain begins to decrease, she forces herself to take a breath. She feels the magic of the serum work all along her body. The pain in her muscles reduces to a mere throb, her urge to vomit vanishes and she can feel her wounds being healed. She touches her forehead, and her fingers come away red. Compared to the gushing gash from before, her fingers are merely smeared.

She takes a deep breath and rises from her seat on the chest.

"I'm okay." She whispers. I'm fine now," she says again, this time for herself.

She wishes she could say she feels guilty for what she did.

She doesn't.

Libby sheaths her dagger and begins to walk through the entryway she finds and follows the path up to the other part of the meadery basement. She finds no skeevers, and heads for the door leading the boilery.

The room has giant brats of mead on either side of the room. Opposite her entrance is the exit and a ladder leading to the second level. Libby stretches her muscles and allows herself to jog up to the second floor. She rounds the floor and settles on the middle vat on the right. She opens the brewer lid and pours the remains of the poison into the brewing vat, every last drop including the bottle itself. At this point, it really doesn't make a difference.

Libby then climbs down the latter and manages to catch herself in the reflection of the vat. Blood is doused on her uniform and smeared on her cheeks. Her hands are capped with the red liquid and her hair is a tangled mat.

She feels the need to clean herself up as best she can, so she can only run her fingers through her hair and put it up in its braid as best she can. Her scalp tingles and her follicles sting from even the slightest pull. Libby grits her teeth and looks around the room to find something to wipe her face. There's nothing.

Libby sighs and decides it wouldn't make a difference. So she spits into the fire beneath the vat and uses the key to head back out to the open world.

The path had led her to the other side of the meadery, as now she's at the front porch. Libby smoothes her hair and takes a deep breath as she pushes through the doors.

Mallus is in the corner, his eyes widening as Libby enters. The Captain of the Guard is by one of the mead barrels, he doesn't turn to notice Libby. Libby glares at Mallus as she passes and reports to Sabjorn. She slams her palm onto the counter.

Sabjorn turns, "Was something we discussed unclear?"

"Job's done." Libby spits.

Sabjorn doesn't seem to notice her wounds, but even if he does, he doesn't care. "Well it's about time! I had to stall the captain until you were finished."

"What about my pay?!" Libby snarls.

Sabjorn shushes her. "You'll just have to wait until after the captain's finished. I supposed you can wait around if you must."

Libby snarls as Sabjorn turns to assist the captain. Libby turns and passes Mallus who whispers, "I can't wait to see Sabjorn squirm."

Libby ignore him, intentionally bumping his shoulder a she sits at a table in the corner. She sniffs and wipes her eyebrow to see if it's still bleeding. She recognizes the captain. Commander Caius. Libby took a couple lessons on handling one-handed weapons, so they at least know of each other. He turns and gives Libby a smile, Libby smiles and gives him a small wave, now trying to cover her wounds.

"Well Sabjorn, now that you've taken care of your little pest problem, how about I get a taste of some of your mead?" the Commander says.

"Help yourself, milord. It's my finest brew yet . . . I call it Honningbrew Reserve. I think you'll find it quite pleasing to your palate." Sabjorn swoons. Libby rolls her eyes.

"Oh come now, this is mead . . . not some wine to be sipped or savored." The Commander dismisses.

Libby feels a twinge of guilt in her chest as the Commander fills his cup and takes a sip. He coughs and spews the liquid out. "By the Eight?! What . . . what's in this?!"

Libby can see Mallus smiling.

Sabjorn fidgets. "I . . . I don't know. What's wrong?"

"You assured me this place was clean!" The Commander barks. Libby runs up and holds him by the arm as he leans on the counter. He gives Libby a slight nod. "I'll see . . . see to it that you remain in irons for the rest of your days!"

"No, please! I don't understand . . ." Sabjorn pleads.

"Silence idiot!" Commander Caius barks. "I should have known better . . . to trust this place after it's been riddled with filth." He pushes himself off the counter and Libby keeps her grip on his arm.

"I beg you . . . please! This is not what it seems!"

Commander Caius stands straight and gives Libby's hand a pat as a thank you. He walks over to Mallus, whose face has changed to looks serious and bewildered by the event.

"You . . . you're in charge here until I can sort this all out." Commander says.

"It will be my pleasure." Mallus accepts.

The Commander turns and walks back to Sabjorn. "And you . . . you're coming with me to Dragonsreach. We'll see how quickly your memory clears in the city's prison. Now . . . move."

The Commander struggles to speak and Libby flinches forward to help him, but he holds his side and holds his hand palm up to signal he's fine.

"Look, I assure you, this is all just a huge misunderstanding!" Sabjorn pleads.

The Commander snarls and draws his sword. "I said move!" he barks.

Sabjorn submits and follows ahead of the captain.

"So long Sabjorn." Mallus says.

Libby sits at the bar stool and watches as Sabjorn and the Commander leave the meadery.

"I don't think that could've gone any better." Mallus smiles.

Libby glares at him and gets up from her seat.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" Mallus cheers.

Libby seethes, grabs the front of Mallus' shirt and throws her weight into a punch. She nails his cheek and as his body shifts, Libby drives her fist into his stomach, right over his bellybutton. Mallus collapses into the counter, the skin around his eyes swelling, his breathing ragged.

"You could've told me about that maniac living in the tunnels!" Libby shouts.

Mallus shifts to his elbows and adjusts his jaw. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He says in a raspy tone. "I didn't include that information in our last conversation because I didn't want you bailing out on the job. And also you spared me the coin of hiring someone else to do it."

"That wouldn't have made a difference! It would've been better if I'd known! He nearly killed me!" Libby screams. She slams her fist into Mallus' stomach again. "You think I got these marks from those fucking skeevers?! Without that potion I found, I would _not_ have made it out _alive_!"

Mallus holds his stomach. "I'm . . . I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you. And I can see you _did_ make it out alive, so now we'll all go home happy. Maven gets what she wanted, I'm a free man. We're all happy."

"This pay had better be worth it!" Libby seethes through grit teeth.

"It will be. I promise." Mallus struggles to pull himself to his feet. Libby sighs and helps him, setting him on the bar stool and dropping a potion of minor healing next to him. "Anything else before you head back to Riften?"

"I need to get a look at Sabjorn's books." Libby says.

"So, Maven wants to hunt down Sabjorn's private partner, huh? You're welcome to take a look around Sabjorn's office. He keeps most of his papers stashed in his desk." Mallus says. "Here this should help." He hands Libby the key to the door.

Libby takes it and heads into the room again and heads upstairs from a hidden staircase behind the wall. She rounds the room to the door and opens to find a bedroom with a wardrobe and a small desk with a display case and coin purses.

At the one side of the room, Libby finds Sabjorn's dresser and uses the key to unlock it. Inside she finds a Promissory Note and some gold. Swiping both in her pockets, she trifles through the rest of his things, collecting the gold as her own form of reward.

Jumping back down the stairs, she goes back to the main room. "Alright, I'm heading out."

"Remember to put in a good word with Maven for me." Mallus winks.

Libby gives a half smiles as she pushes the door open with her hip and begins her journey back to the Whiterun Stables for a relaxing carriage ride.


	10. Chapter 10

Walking into the Bee and Barb, Libby pulls her hood back, and intentionally wipes her nose with her hands so that everyone can see. She pretends not to see their looks, and as she heads up the stairs, she smiles.

From Whiterun to Riften, the day took another whole day. By the time Libby fluttered her eyes open, she finds the dawn of a new day brewing over the horizon. The healing potion is wearing off as she walks over to Maven, and can only hope things will go quick so that she can collapse in the Guild.

It appears Maven hasn't left her spot, and when Libby approaches, she keeps her face blank. Maven swallows before she speaks in her monotone voice, but Libby knows she's disturbed by Libby's appearance.

"I trust you have good news for me?" she asks.

"Job's finished. Here's the information you requested." Libby hands Maven the note, despite her urge to throw it in her face. Libby had already read through it and the only important thing she register is the symbol from the Goldenglow bill.

"This doesn't tell me much." Maven says as she reads the note. "The only thing that could identify Sabjorn's partner is this odd little symbol."

"Yes, I've seen that symbol before." says Libby.

"Well, whoever this mysterious marking represents, they'll regret starting a war with me." Maven seethes with controlled hatred. "You should bring this information to the thieves Guild immediately. There's also the matter of your payment."

Libby stands straight preparing herself for when Maven says she's not getting any pay, but instead, Maven reaches behind the table and pulls out in Elven sword. The weapon emanates a green glow that trail back and forth across the blade.

"I believe you'll find this more than adequate for your services." says Maven. "I believe we're done."

Libby immediately turns and heads back down the stairs, and out to the marketplace. With the pains in her muscles reduced to a throb – even with the potion wearing off, her muscles have mostly healed with her sleep on the wagon wide – so she forces herself to jog along the bridges of the Square and cuts through the archways of the Temple of Mara, bringing her directly to the mausoleum. She presses the button and steps down into the Cistern.

Diamond is training with Vipir on pickpocketing, and she was entering the Adept level when she looks to the ladder near the food cabinets of the Cistern. She finds a pair of feet step down and instantly launches to her feet. Libby steps down, and Diamond is nearly floored by how she looks. Shock punches a little fission of panic through Diamond.

Libby's pale skin is smudged with what looks like dirt. Her armor is torn and battered. And her hands. Her hands are covered in dirt and dried blood, and she clutches an Elven sword like it's going to disappear if she lets go.

Thrynn is near the cabinets when he turns to Libby. He doesn't hide his shock. "By the gods, Libby!"

He rushes to her side and catches her as her grip on the sword falters and clangs to the stone. She quickly manages to sling her arm around his neck and grip, preventing her knees from hitting the ground.

"Hey, someone get Brynjolf!" Thrynn shouts.

Diamond hurls herself against Niruin as he sprints into the training room where Diamond last saw Brynjolf with Cynric. She pushes past Sapphire and Rune to help carry Libby's other side. She drapes Libby's arm across her shoulder and help Thrynn guide her to a nearby bed.

"Missed you." Libby smiles to Diamond.

"You too! What the hell happened?!" Dia asks in worry.

"The job."

Thrynn sets Libby down on a vacant bed and Diamond sits next to her. Thrynn stands to the side and looks at Libby's forehead. Diamond look to Libby and finds her eyes foggy and are beginning to dilate. A weight settles on Diamond's shoulders her heart sinks. A pool of ice cool fear hardening in the pit of her stomach. Panic erases all rational thought from her head.

"Oh my god, what's wrong with her?!" Diamond squeal in distress.

"Diamond, I'm fine. I'm just sore." Libby says.

She turns her head and finds Brynjolf speed walking with Niruin behind him. Diamond watches him mumble, "By the gods," and kneels in front of Libby. He cups one side of her face and says her name. Libby blinks a couple times before she lifts her head to face him.

"Yeah, she's dehydrated." He says. "Thrynn, get a couple tankards and get Vex as well."

"On it."

Brynjolf turns to Niruin, "Get me a bucket and a couple rags so we can clean her up."

"Of course."

"Cynric, you still remember show to stitch?"

"Sure let me get my stuff." He says.

"All right people give her some space!" Brynjolf says and the other members disperse one by one. Libby had almost forgotten about the cut in all the chaos, but it still hasn't stopped bleeding.

"Anything I can do?" Diamond asks.

"I need you to get her out of her uniform. We need to cool her down." Brynjolf instructs.

"Guys, I'm fine." Libby repeats.

"No you're not, lass." Brynjolf feels her forehead. "You feel warm."

"What happened out there?" Diamond asks.

"It's all part of the job. Nothing I can't handle." Libby says.

Thrynn returns with a tankard and Vex behind him with another. Brynjolf gets up so Thrynn can take his place.

He hands her the drink and says, "Drink this. Slowly."

Libby accepts it and tips the rim to her lips. She restrains herself from gulping the entire thing down. Only when the first drop of water his her tongue did her throat clench and grow wet with saliva for more.

"Slowly," Thrynn repeats. "Easy now."

He gets up and allows Vex to crouch. "Hey babe, how you feel?" Diamond watches as she mixes in a healing potion with the water.

"I feel, better. But my stomach's tight. Like I feel full, but I'm hungry." Libby explains.

"So, she's just dehydrated?" Diamond asks.

"No, it's not just that." Vex says. She takes Libby's chin and tilts her head up so Libby's looking straight ahead instead of downcast. "You're pretty pale. Looks like Ataxia. You get bitten by a skeever?"

"More like ten."

"Damn, what kind of a job was it?" Thrynn asks.

"Nothing I can't handle." Libby repeats.

"Judging from your hands, I'd say so." Brynjolf says.

Niruin returns with the bucket of water with two rags dangling over the edges. Brynjolf thanks him and sets the bucket down next to Vex. Diamond watches as she gets up and adds a potion to cure diseases and stirs them all together in the tankard. Thrynn leaves to get another tankard.

Libby blinks slowly and Vex pats her cheeks. "Hey, hey, honey. Come on stay with me. Look at me, here, look at me. Can you hear me?"

Libby nods slowly and licks her lips.

Etienne comes over with a blue robe and sets is on the end table. Diamond positions herself behind Libby and begins to unbutton her cuirass while simultaneously fanning Libby as she drinks Vex's concoction of water and potions. Cynric and Etienne pull over a board wall as Diamond shifts the armor off of Libby's shoulders; quickly slipping the robe over the bare skin. She winces at the ugly purple and black bruises spreading like decaying blossoms across Libby's back. Etienne hands Libby another wet rag and tell sher to keep it pressed to her forehead.

Brynjolf dips the rag into the bucket and wrenches it out before he takes Libby's left hand. Carefully he scrubs away the blood, the dirt, and the evidence of all that's been. Diamond finds a brush in the drawer and combs through Libby's hair, and puts it in a simple braid down her back. Thrynn returns with another drink and Libby finishes half of it before she takes a breath. Brynjolf uses the second rag to clean Libby's other hand. As Diamond watches him, he takes notice of the cuts on Libby's knuckles.

"Hope you didn't do that on Maven." He teases.

"No, but I killed a man." Libby says.

Diamond stiffens and Brynjolf pause his scrubbing. He looks to Libby whose eyes are glassy with tears. Libby looks to him, then has her gaze downcast.

"What happened, lass?" Brynjolf asks. He gets up and Diamond shifts off the bed so he can take her place. Diamond resorts to leaning against the end table.

"I was supposed to do an extermination job for Maven and her partner Mallus. I was supposed to poison the mead, and I was led down to a tunnel. And there was this man." Libby's words choke her, and she swallows before continuing. "He hit me with these wards of fire and lighting; one after the other. Then he did get in a few good hits, but I managed."

"That fucking son-of-a-bitch!" Diamond snaps. "What the hell?! I knew we should've gone together!"

"I said I managed, Diamond." Libby says.

"Barely."

Libby doesn't even care when Diamond slips the robe off her shoulders. She stands still as Brynjolf rounds the bed to see, and Libby closes her eyes when she hears him sigh.

"Maybe you should head to Honeyside one we're done here." He suggests.

"But I still need to give you the news on Honning -"

"Brynjolf!" Mercer's voice calls. "What's going on here?"

"Libby's back Mercer. She's hurt pretty badly. We're just making sure she's okay." Brynjolf explains.

"Well did you get the job done? What's the result?" he asks, folding his arms. Diamond snarls.

"Mercer give her a moment. Can't you see she's not in the greatest shape?" Brynjolf says.

"As long as she's not dying I'm sure she can spare time to tell me what happened." Mercer counters.

"Mercer, let her rest." Brynjolf's tone hardens, and he pronounces every syllable.

"She got the job done. All I want is to know that Maven satisfied. We need to talk when she's free." He begins to walk away when Diamond springs to her feet.

"Hey jackass!" she screams.

"Diamond," Brynjolf starts.

"No! Don't Diamond me! She just barely escaped with her life and all he care about is if the Brier-bitch is happy?! What bullshit is this?!" she hollers.

"Watch your tone, Diamond." Mercer speaks quietly, and this scars Libby more than if he decided to yell back. "You're in my factions now. And you will treat me as the Guild Master I am."

"No Guild Master deserves respect if all he cares about is information, regardless of his fellow members. You don't _deserve_ it." Diamond seethes through grit teeth.

"Diamond," Libby speaks up. "That's enough."

Diamond and Brynjolf look to Libby who keeps her gaze to Mercer. She still holds the rag to her forehead, though by now it's seeped through, spreading like a fast blooming red rose.

"Mercer, the job got done. And Maven was satisfied. She'll send ahead her regards. In the meantime, I ask that you let me rest. I feel I've done more than at least earn a day's rest." Libby says.

Mercer folds his arms and glares at her. Libby looks back not flinching. "You are to report to me the moment you can walk straight."

He then turns and leaves. Diamond gives him her finger as he walks away and while Libby giggles, Brynjolf glares at her, but a small smile tugs at the corners of his mouth.

"If you'll girls excuse me." He says and heads in the same direction as Mercer.

Diamond plops on the bed next to Libby and crosses her legs. "Are you mad?" she asks.

"It might be the potion, but, no." Libby answers. "Because this time, you're right. And you can tell Brynjolf was mad."

"Yeah, I wonder if he'll confront Mercer."

"Not that it'll matter if he does. Mercer's as stubborn a bull." Libby checks the rags and refolds it so that a clean side is pressed to her forehead. She takes a deep breath and finishes her drink. "So, what did you do while I was gone?" she smiles.

Diamond quickly catches on and her cheeks flush red. "Shut up!"

"Come on! Tell me, what did you do?" Libby pries.

"Not what you're thinking." Diamond says.

"Why not?!"

"I couldn't do it!' Diamond weeps. "I tried but I chickened out. I couldn't do it! I couldn't do it!"

"Did you even try to _talk_ to him?!" Libby pesters.

"No, no." Diamond shakes her head, her ponytail flopping from side to side. "I just couldn't do it."

"I finally give you the perfect opportunity, and you blow it." Libby says.

"It wasn't the right time." Diamond defends.

"Bullshit it wasn't." Libby says unconvinced.

"Seriously it was! I . . . needed more pickpocket training, but I did talk to Niruin!"

"Everyone can talk to Niruin." The girls giggle together, and Libby pats her head with the rag. "Well now, you get another chance."

"What?!"

Diamond and Libby look up and find Cynric walking up to them with a medical kit in one hand, a clean rag in the other. Diamond goes off.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Why is he coming over here?! Libby, why is he coming over here?!" she frantically asks.

"He needs to tend to my wounds." Libby casually answers.

"Libby! I'm like flipping my shit right now!" Diamond whispers. Her face is turning red, her cheeks flushing. "What the fuck?!" she looks to find him approaching. "Oh my god."

"Hello ladies, hope you're feeling better." Cynric says. He dumps the bucket into the sewer water of the Cistern. He drags over a chair and Diamond keeps her face shielded as he sits and leans into Libby. "Jeez, this dude seems like the kind that doesn't take prisoners." He says.

"No kidding." Libby says. She looks to Diamond and hides her smile. Diamond can't even look to him as he sets the kit in front of Diamond's folded legs.

Cynric dabs Libby's arm with antiseptic. He says it's only a minor graze, nothing to worry about. Libby can't help but take a deep breath, inhaling Cynric's scent. An even combination of something sharp and masculine. Libby looks to Diamond and smiles. Diamond glares back. If Libby could smell him, she could too.

"So Cynric, how did you become so good at picking locks?" Libby asks and Diamond's head jerks up.

"Libby, I've told you this story before." He smiles.

"Yeah, but Diamond keeps asking me, and I can never give the story straight." Libby lies.

"Really?" he looks to Diamond, who keeps her gaze down. "You want to hear that story?"

Diamond keeps her gaze down. "No, no! You don't have to tell it if you don't want to!" she squeaks.

"Diamond," Libby chimes. "Look someone in the eye when you're speaking to them."

Diamond glares at Libby. Diamond turns her head and looks at Cynric. He quirks an eyebrow at her and Diamond fans herself, rubbing her face with her hands.

"Look, you don't have to tell it if you don't want to." She says.

"But you should just tell it so she gets the gist." Libby interjects.

Diamond gawks at Libby who only shrugs her shoulders.

"Admiringly he's not as good as Vex but still."

"Ha, ha." Cynric sarcastically laughs. He purses his lips, then says. "You need stitches."

Diamond twitches her head up, eyes wide.

"It's just a graze!" Libby argues.

"Not your arm, your head." Cynric says, pointing to the spot where she presses her rag.

"Fine." Libby sighs.

"I'm going to have to give you a shot of this numbing agent." He says, holding up an ampoule and syringe.

Libby doesn't even react. Cynric dabs Libby's forehead with antiseptic and Libby feels the sting and prickle of the needle, diminishing by the second as the numbing agent does its work. Diamond looks to her in surprise, and Libby shrugs her shoulders.

"So, about that lockpicking thing?" Libby says and Diamond covers her face.

"Well my friends this is quite the tale." Cynric says. "When I started out in this business, I wasn't really interested in the Guild or being a thief."

Libby looks to Diamond, and urges her on. Diamond takes a deep breath, but can't seem to steady her voice "With skills like yours? Why not?"

"I didn't mean to imply I was earning an honest living either. With my lockpicking aptitude I was a natural at jailbreaking . . . made a great deal of gold dong it too." He says. Cynric cleans the skin around Libby's wound with something cold. "Okay, stitching time." He says.

Libby takes a deep breath and Dia keeps her gaze on Cynric, since she can't seem to look at anything else. She can't watch him stitch Libby's wound, and she can't keep looking around the guild without looking, weird. And since Libby sucked her into this conversation, she can't just get up and leave.

"So, what is jailbreaking?" Dia asks.

"It's where a client pays you to get arrested, and you get thrown into a prison for the express purpose of breaking out. Usually it's to free someone the client cares about . . . and sometimes to . . . well, to kill someone on their behalf."

Libby clutches her jaw and stays quiet this time. Of all the pain she has suffered today – the pain of getting shot at with fire and lighting, and the endless pains of her wounds, and her dehydration, this is the easiest to bear.

"Either way," Cynric continues. "the trick was in the escape, and that's where my strengths came in handy."

"Why did you stop doing it?" Dia asks.

"Well, as a jailbreaker, you work alone. No Guild to back you up. I'd do jobs for the thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood, but if things didn't go as planned, I was on my own. See what I'm getting at?"

Diamond snaps her head at attention at the mention of the Brotherhood. "You . . . you worked for the Brotherhood?"

"Yeah, I used to." Cynric answers. "The last jailbreak I attempted failed. I was imprisoned in High Rock for three years before they let me go. After that I promised myself I'd never do it again."

Cynric finishes stitching Libby's wound, ties off the thread. He places a bandage over the stitches to protect the wound, and gathers all the wrappers and soaked cotton balls into his fists to throw away.

He tosses them into the bucket and cleans his hand with the water that flows through the Cistern. "So wait!" Diamond says. "Why did you join the Guild and not the Brotherhood?"

Cynric shrugs. "I don't know. I think I realized that out in the world, my skills would bring more wealth as a thief, rather than an assassin. Alright babe, that should do it."

Diamond snaps her head to Libby. "Babe? Babe?!"

"Yeah so?" Libby shrugs her shoulders. "He calls everyone that."

Diamond raises an eyebrow, her lips pressed into a flat line.

"Anyway, killing someone in a jail is much easier than what the Dark Brotherhood deals with." Cynric continues. "I guess I just wanted to play it safe. I already knew Delvin, I asked if I could join up, and that was that."

"To think you two could've been kill buddies." Libby teases.

"Think we would've been as close as you two?" Cynric smiles. He drapes an arm around Diamond's shoulder.

"Oh my god!" She squeals. "No! No! No!"

"Aww, come on Diamond. You don't think we would've made a good team?" Cynric pesters.

"No, no, no, no." she tries to say something else, but she needs to stop to fan her face.

"Well, remind me not to split any money with you." Cynric's arm slides off and Diamond wheezes in relief and flops on the bed.

"Thanks Cynric." Libby says.

"Sure, and before you ask, yes you can sleep on it, and come to see me at least a week later." He instructs.

"Okay." Libby smiles. "Thanks."

As he walks back into the training room, Libby breaks into giggles and laughter as she looks to Diamond. Her face is red and before Libby can ask, Diamond speaks. "Oh my god. I am going to kill you!" Diamond says through a laugh.

The two girls giggle and laugh as Diamond tries to fan herself with her hands.

"I'm going to . . . oh my gosh, Libby."

"You did it! I'm so proud of you!" Libby praises.

"I am going, to _kill_ you!"

Libby has to stop because her head was beginning to throb with her laughs, but still she laughs as Diamond begins to tear. "I think I'm having a heart attack."

Libby keeps laughing as Brynjolf walks back over. The girls slowly fade their smiles off and Libby rubs her head until the pain subsides.

"Is Mercer mad?" Libby asks.

"No, no, lass you're fine. I just wanted to speak to him about how he treats you."

Libby looks down. "You didn't have to do that for me. Now he'll probably I'm weak for having you talk for me."

"Libby, you were barely paying attention. You're badly hurt, and you do deserve rest. We'll get the information later. It doesn't have to all happen in one day. Remember our talk." Brynjolf says.

Libby nods and fiddles with her hands. "Should we head back to Honeyside?" Diamond asks.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. Can you handle the journey, lass?" Brynjolf asks.

Libby rubs her head and stands. She wobbles and winds up falling into Brynjolf. He steadies her and Libby rubs her head. "I think I'll be fine maybe I just need to walk around the Guild. I'm fine." Libby insists.

"You don't look fine to me."

"I'm fine, Brynjolf. Libby denies.

"I'm not taking a chance lass. I'll walk you home. Tonilia said she'll give you some new armor tomorrow." Brynjolf says.

Before she could protest, Brynjolf takes Libby's hand and guides her to the entrance near the food cabinets. Libby leans heavily on Brynjolf. Diamond jogs ahead of them and opens the door leading to the Ragged Flagon. The plan was to travel through the Ratways this time. Thankfully there is a drawbridge that makes the path so much easier. The whole time, Brynjolf carried Libby since he knew she wouldn't have held herself together for the walk.

Once aboveground, Diamond leads him to Honeyside, where she unlocks the door and escorts Brynjolf inside. Libby was slightly awake, but the walk, with Brynjolf's gentle walking motions, she's rather drowsy. Brynjolf sets her on the bed and pulls the sheet over her body. Diamond takes a seat by the fire, but pretends to head down into the basement; tempting to fool Brynjolf into thinking he's alone.

Diamond peaks her head up and watches as Brynjolf pulls up a stool next to Libby's bed. She watches as Brynjolf takes Libby's hand and strokes it with his thumb. Keeping hold of it with one, his other stokes Libby's hair, tucking a few strands behind her ears.

She's never seen Brynjolf acting fatherly towards Libby, despite their bond of him raising her. Libby shifts slightly, and Brynjolf only smiles. Diamond can't help but smile. Besides that she now has a juicy secret to bribe Brynjolf with, it feels like it's been a while since she's seen something so happy. Giving him real privacy, Diamond grips the railing and swings her body over, her toes landing with a slight _tip_. Quietly she slips into her room.

Brynjolf strokes Libby's dark hair and smiles. The crackling of the fire is the only sound throughout the house. The flames cast an orange-gold glow along the room, gleaming in Libby's ebony hair.

"Sometimes I feel like you really are my daughter." Brynjolf whispers. "We have the same wit, same stubborn-ness, and a natural ability for larceny."

Libby's breathing is even and long. Her hair fans out around her head and pillow, her delicate eyelashes shadowing her eyes. Brynjolf strokes her cheek, the callus of his thumb seeming to contrast against her smooth skin. His eyes flick to the bandage on her temple, it nearly covers her entire forehead.

"I want to protect you in every way I can." Brynjolf sighs. "I never felt like this towards anyone, and I can vouch I'm no parent. Far from it. And yet . . . I watch you, and I worry about you."

If he had to describe Libby, it would be, fragile. But she's not fragile. She's one thing, but she's also the exact opposite of that same thing. She was independent, and yet she could depend on Brynjolf sometimes. She was strong, but weak at points. Shy, but confident.

She was something, that's for sure.

And for Brynjolf to feel so, close; so fatherly to someone. One would think with his line of work it would scare him. Make him distance himself, but he only wishes to embrace it. He likes the way he worries for Libby.

Could it be that he's never had something become this valuable to him before? Or perhaps because he feels sympathy for her because she never had time to experience true parents? The blame is not his to bear, and yet it is.

"I look to you, and I can see myself." He continues. "You're special, lass. In more ways than you think."

As Libby sighs while he strokes her cheek, Brynjolf smiles and leans down and kisses Libby's forehead.

"Goodnight Libby."


	11. Chapter 11

Libby's sense awaken before her open. She takes notice of her position, one arm flopped next to her head, the other across her stomach. Her one leg was stretched straight out, the other is bent, the heel tingling with pins and needles. She stares into the blackness of her eyes before blinking them open.

The smell of tomato soup wafts to her nose and her stomach beckons. She pushes herself up to a sitting position and stretches her arms yawning. Ruffling her hair, she inhales deeply, and glances around the home.

She spots Brynjolf at the hearth stirring the stew. He taps the spoon on the side and looks to Libby.

"Morning lass." He smiles.

"That smells good." Libby grins. She's about to move when a hard poke on her side prickles her ribcage. Her body aches so badly it hurts to breathe.

"Easy lass, don't move so fast." Brynjolf says as he walks over to the bed with a bowl of the broth.

Libby accepts it and clasps the bowl between her hands. Brynjolf sits at the edge of the bed.

"I meant to tell you, word on the street it that poor Sabjorn has found himself in Whiterun's prison. How unfortunate for him." Brynjolf says with phony sympathy.

"Yet very fortunate for Maven." Libby replies.

"Exactly." Brynjolf says with a soft tap to Libby's chin. Libby takes another sip of soup and then a drink of water. "How are you feeling?"

"Better. Though I'm sure I'm speckled with bruises." Libby says as she finishes her water. That bastard in the skeeverhole had some magic to him.

"Well, I'm glad you're better." Brynjolf places a hand on her shoulder, and Libby grunts in pain. "Well, mostly."

Libby looks around and finds her Guild armor draped over a chair next to her wardrobe. It's battered and torn with scorched marks across the leather.

"Tonilia said she'd give you some new armor. Also, Maven sent word that you discovered something else while you were out there. Something important to the Guild." Brynjolf says.

"Mmm!" Libby nods as she finishes a spoonful of soup. "Yeah, I did."

She gets up out of bed, despite her aching muscles and goes over to her armor. She trifles through it until she finds the letter. She then plops back onto her bed and hands it to Brynjolf. Libby pulls her robe over her thighs and folds her legs. She points to the symbol.

"The same symbol from Goldenglow was involved." She says.

"Then this is beyond coincidence." Brynjolf states. "First Aringoth, now Sabjorn."

"What are you thinking?" Libby asks.

"Someone's trying to take us down by driving a wedge between Maven and the Guild." Brynjolf says.

"Is there anything we can do?" Libby asks.

"Mercer thinks he knows a way to identify this new thorn in our side. He wants to meet with you away." Brynjolf says.

"Now?"

"How about we let you rest for at least, an hour, then we'll go to the Guild."

"Sounds nice." Libby smiles. "Wait, where's Diamond?"

"She was already gone when I came this morning. She probably went back to the Sanctuary." Brynjolf suggests.

"Is she okay? I thought she would leave a note or something."

"I'm sure she's fine Libby. Right now, we need to focus on getting you better." says Brynjolf.

"I think I have some books on the shelf in the basement." Libby says. "Look for the one that says "Healing."

Brynjolf leaves to get the book. While he's gone, Libby eases her way out of bed, suppressing a groan, and over to her tattered uniform. Well, Tonilia always said to try and put it to good use. Libby starts to undress, looking at herself in the mirror behind the door to her wardrobe.

She had only opened her robe to find her entire chest patched by the ugly blemish of bruises. For a second the colors mesmerize her, bright green, and deep blue and brown. Taking a deep inhale, her chest didn't fully expand when her breath hitched and she had to exhale. Libby frowns at herself as she pokes at the bruises, wincing slightly as the soreness intensifies. Lifting up her sleeve to her left arm and finds the blisters of the burns nearly healed.

She looks to her reflection in the mirror and sees a stranger. She is a brunette like Libby, with a narrow face like Libby, but that's where the similarities end. _Libby_ doesn't have a black eye, and a split lip, and a bruised jaw. They can't possibly be the same person, but they move in unison.

Brynjolf returns and Libby clasps her robe shut. Brynjolf catches her looking at the mirror and gives her a smile. "Quite the battle wounds, eh lass. Show them you're tough."

Libby faintly smiles. He hands her a golden yellow tome book and Libby goes to sit at the edge of her bed. She opens the book, and within reading halfway through the book, she notices the pages turning orange-brown around the edges. By the time she's finished, the book erupts in flames, but she feels no burning. The book shrivels into a small flame before evaporating into the thin air.

Libby flicks her fingers and within the palm of her hand, a soft golden gleam radiates. She closes her eyes and concentrates on the pain in her arm. She follows it down to her hand and imagines the pain fueling the magic. Slowly a light ringing chimes in her ears, and she can feel the pain receding, just as the potion did. She opens her eyes and watches as the blisters on her forearm shrink and flatten into her skin. Once she feels herself drained, the pain in her body has entirely reduced to a dull throb; but she knows better than to think she's completely fine.

She's still far from healed. Magic and potions only speed up the process. The real remedy, is time.

Looking in the mirror, a dark patch still forms around her eye, though now it looks like she hasn't slept for some time; which could be true and she wonders for a moment if it is just baggy eyes or a bruise. Her lip is sealed, but by a small scar, and her jaw is nearly smooth.

"Are you sure you can move, lass?" Brynjolf asks, taking a seat at the kitchen table. "You shouldn't push yourself."

"I can deal with this. It's that pain where, if I don't focus on it, it's not bothersome." Libby says. "At least now I can move better."

Brynjolf sighs and keeps his back to her as she dresses into her uniform. Libby changes as fast as she can and lets her hair hand loose because she can't hold her arms up long enough to tie it back.

"Be careful, and make sure you watch your wording around Mercer." Brynjolf advises. "I've never seen him this angry."

"Always a great thing to wake up to in the morning." Libby pesters.

Brynjolf smiles and gets up. "I'll meet you back in the Guild later. I've got to run a job, but I should be back soon."

"Okay. Be careful." Libby is only half joking.

"I will, and if I were you, I'd hurry."

Libby nods and shoves her feet into her boots. She packs her weapons as well and heads out the door. Once the cold air sweeps her face does she feel truly awake. Libby runs, wincing, on her way to the graveyard. A drop of sweat rolls down the back of her neck as she runs through the town Square, pushing past citizens and guards on her way in. she wonders how many frantic, running members they see on a weekly basis.

Ducking into the mausoleum, she jumps through the sewer hole and climbs down the ladder. Some members of the Guild are awake, but the majority are still sleeping. Mercer is one of the few who are awake. He leans over his desk pondering over a book with papers scattered. Libby spots Rune awake and wandering across the bridges, and spares him a small smile. He smiles in return as she passes when he realizes her destination.

As Libby approaches, she smoothes down her hair and tugs at her uniform; of which she still needs to replace. Mercer lifts his head as if he sensed her presence and stares her dead in the eye. His icy green eyes making Libby's bones chill.

"Ah, there you are." He says. His voice stretched the words long and he had a hint of, seduction. "I've consulted my contacts regarding the information you recovered from Goldenglow Estate, but no one can identify that symbol."

"I found the same marking at Honningbrew Meadery." Libby says.

"It would seem out adversary is attempting to take us apart indirectly by angering Maven Black-Briar. Very clever." Mercer nearly compliments.

"Do you, admire them?" Libby asks. She steps closer to the desk, placing her pointer finger on the edge.

"I'm not one to dismiss our adversary so easily. They're well-funded, patient and have been able to avoid identification for years. However don't mistake my admiration for complacency; our nemesis is going to pay dearly." says Mercer.

"How do we make them pay?" Libby asks. She closes the space more by placing both her hands on the table, nearly mimicking Mercer's stance.

This is by far the longest conversation Libby has had with Mercer in all her nineteen years in the Guild. She wasn't about to ruin it by invading his "space"; which would consist of the desk and two bookshelves on either side. Mercer seems to notice, but doesn't tell her to step back. Libby could even swear she saw the corner of his mouth twitch into a smile.

"Because, even after all their posturing and planning, they've made a mistake."

To Libby's surprise, Mercer pushes away and walks around to the other side, next to Libby with the parchment paper. Libby can feel her cheeks warm as Mercer stands next to her and leans against the desk. The b lade of his Dwarven sword winking in the sunlight.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Brynjolf walk in and look in their direction Libby can see his eyebrows furrow, but she keeps her attention to Mercer. He shows her the paper, despite her already seeing it.

"The parchment you recovered mentions a "Gajul-Lei." According to my sources, that's an old alias used by one of our contacts." Mercer explains. "His real name is Gulum-Ei. Slimy bastard." Mercer mumbles.

"Where do I begin?" Libby asks.

"Gulum-Ei is our inside man at the East Empire Company in Solitude. I'm betting he acted as a go-between for the sale of Goldenglow Estate and that he can finger our buyer." Mercer says. "Get out there, shake him down, and see what you come up with. Talk to Brynjolf before you leave if you have any questions."

Then just like that he pushes off and without a word dismisses Libby. She nods and takes a breath before stepping away. As she walks over to the cooking pot where Bryn was, she glances over her shoulder and finds Mercer looking back. She fiddles with her hair like she had something and approaches Brynjolf.

He doesn't say anything about what he saw, which fills Libby with relief. "I can't believe Gulum-Ei's mixed up in all this; that Argonian couldn't find his tail with both hands." He says. "Don't get me wrong, he could scam a beggar out of his last septim . . . but he's no mastermind."

"Think he'll give me trouble?" Libby asks, crossing her arms.

"Trouble?" Brynjolf snickers. "He's one of the most stubborn lizards I've ever met! You have your work cut out for you."

"So how do I get him to talk?"

"You're going to have to buy him off; it's the only way to get his attention. If that fails, follow him and see what he's up to. If I know Gulum-Ei, he's in way over his head and you'll be able to use it as leverage."

"Betrayal or not, I let him live." Libby says with an annoyed tone. It's the one thing Brynjolf always repeats to her.

"Glad to see our methods have branded themselves into your brain, lass. It would be a waste to lose a contact at the East Empire Company before we had the entire story." says Brynjolf. "Just keep on Gulum-Ei's tail and he's bound to step into something eh can't scrape off his boot."

Libby nods and is about to turn, until Brynjolf gives her parting words. "Good luck in Solitude. Keep Gulum-Ei alive, but remind him who we are."

Libby nods and before she leaves goes over to the one of four waterfalls that pours through the Cistern. She kneels down and looks to her reflection in the water. She combs her fingers through her hair and splits it into three sections. Then with her gentle fingers threads them into her normal braid. When she secures it with a rubberband, she gets up and leaves the Cistern.

Treading through the Square of Riften, Libby makes sure to stretch her arm and her leg muscles as she passes through the gate. Ignoring the looks of guards, she jogs over to the carriage parked outside the stables. She stops just as she's about to ask the carriage driver for a ride to Solitude.

If she keeps spending her money on rides, she might not have enough to spare in the future. True they're only twenty coin per ride, fifty for the bigger holds, but for one payment of a thousand, she could buy her own ride without the need to rely on more.

She finds the stable manager just leaving the house and runs up to him. "Could I buy a horse?" Libby asks.

The man looks to her with surprise before he processes her questions. "Of course." He smiles. "But that depends on your price range."

"I have a thousand. Is it enough?" Libby states.

"Sure." He says and takes her coin. "Got one steed all saddled up and ready."

Libby smiles and thanks him as she walks up to the stable and finds a painted stallion fitted with saddle and all. Libby approaches and pats its snout as it snorts. She giggles and pats its neck before she takes the reins and leads it out of the stable.

"You know how to ride?" the man asks.

"Uh, a little." Libby admits.

After the man shows her how to snap the reins and the different signals that could initiate different behaviors, Libby mounts and snaps the reins. The horse trots down the road and Libby pulls out her map as she navigates the route to Solitude.

When she arrives, she begins to wonder if the purchase was a mistake; as her legs feel like swamp mush and she needs a minute to walk around and regain the feeling. The stables that are down the road at a nearby farm were happy to take Libby's horse while she enters the city. From the farm up to the gate, Libby's legs soon get blood flowing again and she can walks with steady feet again.

Pushing through the gates, Libby immediately walks into chaos; or rather calm chaos. A crowd has gathered around a stage off to the immediate right upon entering the gate. A man in rags has his hands bound and is being led by the Captain of the guard of Solitude. Two more guards mount the stage and a headsman has his axe ready.

Everyone in the crowd stands a few feet away from each other, allowing Libby to maneuver her way up to the front. The sight of the blood on the headman's axe makes her throat constrict, and Libby can't hear, nor does she want to hear what it is he did. All she could gather was that he had helped Ulfric Stormcloak escape the city. By opening a bridge.

Are they serious? Just form opening a bridge he gets executed? The man talks about how there was no murder, that Ulfric defeated the High King in fair battle. But the crowd merely boos in disagreement.

Libby has half the instinct to stop it, but that would mean melding in the affairs of politics, and since she's no good with them, she stays rooted in her spot. She watches as the Captain of the Guard pushes the man to his knees, then down to the block.

Bile rises at the back of Libby's throat and she averts her gaze as she hears the man say, "Today, I go to Sovngarde."

Then the headsman raises his axe.

Libby shuts her eyes.

Blood is a strange color. It's darker than you expect it to be. She looks down to her hands and still finds them a faint pink. Libby is still convinced the blood stains her deeper, has seeped into her skin so that she will never forget what she had done.

She shakes her head as if to get the dust out of it.

This isn't about her. It's about Gulum-Ei. Libby takes a deep breath and swallows as she enters the Winking Skeever. Walking in the man behind the bar encourages her to make herself at home. Libby goes deeper in and gazes around. Only a few costumers, along with a bard are present. Then Libby looks to her left and finds an Argonian sitting in seclusion. Libby approaches him.

"So, what do we have here?" he starts. "Hmm. Let me guess."

Libby's fingers twitch as the lizard stares drifts his eyes over her body. His gaze a little too stalled around her chest.

"By your scent, I'd say you were from the Guild. But that can't be true, because I told Mercer I wouldn't deal with them anymore." Gulum-Ei says.

"I'm here about Goldenglow Estate." Libby snips.

"I don't deal in land or property. Now, if you're looking for goods, you've come to the right person." He continues.

Libby snarls and folds her arms. "You can drop the act now . . . Gajul-Lei."

Gulum-Ei tenses and Libby smirks. "Oh wait . . . did you say Goldenglow Estate? My apologies. I'm sorry to say that I know very little about that . . . bee farm. Was it?"

"You acted as a broker for its new owner." Libby says.

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. I can't be expected to remember every deal I make."

"Identify the buyer, and we'll forget what we know." Libby persuades.

"I don't care what you promise me. If I tell you the buyer's name and word gets out, it could ruin me." Gulum-Ei retorts.

Libby huffs in annoyance and reaches for her dagger. He would be better as a pair of boots for her instead. But Brynjolf's words ring in her ears.

"What would it take to identify the buyer?" Libby asks.

Gulum-Ei's eyes widen in interest. "Well, now that you mention it, there is something I've been trying to get my hands on. I have a buyer looking for a case of Firebrand Wine. There just so happens to be a single case in the Blue Palace. Bring it to me, and we'll talk about Goldenglow."

Libby sighs and makes sure to glare at Gulum-Ei as she turns and exit the Winking Skeever. With the broad daylight this would be tricky, so as Libby approaches the hill with the Blue Palace, she notices one guard posted outside. If the security is anything like Whiterun, Libby will need to think of an excuse. Or hopefully she can just buy them off.

None is needed as a distraction seems to have created itself. The guard leaves his post and Libby pretends to be filing her nails as he passes by her. He must be changing shifts with another. She'll have less than a minute, but that's all she needs.

Libby slips inside the palace and two more guards inside. One stands by an archway while another is posted at the base of the grand staircase leading up to the second level. They don't seem alarmed by her presence, probably because Libby looks no different than a staff member.

Libby has made visits to the palace before, and that was back when she was a young thing looking for work. She would approach the steward, he would have his doubts and a snicker too. But when Libby once brought the head of a bandit chief on a pike, and tossed it at the feet of the High Queen Elisif, he never taunted her again. Also gave her an added bonus for some reason, probably because he feared her. Either way, she should be recognizable, and that is a bittersweet thing.

She slinks close to the wall and ducks into a small hallway behind the staircase. She finds the brand of wine on a table and snatches it with a silent whisper and sneaks out through the back door by the cook's quarters.

Returning to the Winking Skeever, Libby drops the crate onto the table, caring about the sound rattling bottles and the attention it draws. Gulum-Ei examines the crate for any glasses that could be cracked, and when he finds none, sighs.

"Can't have the buyer getting impatient and looking elsewhere for this, can we?" he takes the wine and tucks it behind his chair. "Here, take this. I certainly can't use it, but I suppose I need to pay you something for the goods."

"You're trying to bribe me now?" Libby asks quirking an eyebrow.

"Not at all. I consider it an investment in prolonging my life." Gulum-Ei says. "As far as Goldenglow, Estate goes, I'll tell you what I know."

Taking the two pretty soul gems, she packs them away into her pocket. Libby pulls up a chair and takes a seat, leaning forward with her elbows to her knees, hands folded in between.

"In was approached by a woman who wanted me to act as a broker for something big." Gulum-Ei starts. "She flashed a bag of coin in my face and said all I had to do was pay Aringoth for the estate. I brought him the coin and walked away with her copy of the deed."

"Did she say why she was doing this?" Libby asks.

"Not at all. I tend not to ask too many questions when I'm on the job. I'm sure you understand." Gulum-Ei says. "However I did notice she was quite angry and it was directed at Mercer Frey."

"That's it? No name or anything?" Libby presses, narrowing her eyebrows.

"In this business, we rarely deal with names; our identity comes from how much coin we carry." says Gulum-Ei.

"I think you're lying to me." Libby snarls. She reaches for her dagger.

"Look, that's all I know. I never promised you I'd have all the answers." Gulum-Ei assures. "Now, since our transactions is done, I'll be on my way."

Gulum-Ei gets up from his seat and Libby mimics him, letting him out first. As he nears the door, she walks over to the other side of the inn, where the main tables and the bard mingle with what little customers they have this time of night. Only one other customer still sits with a full plate of food. Libby feels Gulum-Ei's gaze before she hears the shutting of the door.

Libby takes a seat with the only remaining customer and glances around as the bard takes a seat near the bar. Luckily Libby had sent a message to a courier as she was leaving Riften, counting on Gulum-Ei being a stubborn Argonian.

"So, what did you think?" Libby asks.

Diamond wasn't the quietest thief, and unlike many others in her line of work, she did not take to the shadows as fish took to water. Her fingers lacked the dexterity for caressing locks into opening. But her ears were always listening, and her eyes sharp. Diamond adjusts her hair as she removes a ragged cap she had for disguise. "I think he would make better use a pair of new boots!" she exclaims and Libby quiets her down. "Seriously, I'm like sitting over here, my hand is on my dagger, and I'm just getting ready to throw it at him!"

"We can't kill him, Diamond. Unfortunately. By killing him, our only contact to the East Empire Company vanishes. That's not smart for business." Libby reminds. "Come on, Brynjolf said we need to shadow him and find out where he goes."

Diamond nods and snatches a sweetroll from the table before they leave the Winking Skeever. As they just got outside, they see the gates close. The girls trot after him, making sure to exchange with the guards some friendly banter before departing.

Libby can't help but smile at how giddy Diamond is to be back on a mission together. They shadow Gulum-Ei all the way until they reach the East Empire Company warehouse. This storage facility is located in Haafingar Hold, at the foot of the city of Solitude. It is run by the East Empire Company. Inside are several ships and average loot. There are also several guards, known infamously as East Empire Wardens, who patrol the docks inside the warehouse.

The girls follow him past the guards and ducking into a small shack that holds shipments of spiced wine. They wait two minutes after Gulum-Ei enters to follow. While Libby picks the lock, Diamond watches for guards.

Once the tumbler clicks, they slip inside silent as ghosts.

Gulum-Ei was far enough ahead that the girls could worry more about the mercenaries inside. Diamond readies her dagger, but Libby stops her hand. She points silently to the shelving of endless goods and furniture and clothing and weapons. Diamond squints her eyes and sees that a small pathway has been made above. Logs were left with one end of the floor and leading up to the shelving. Then there were small wooden planks to connect them for the mercenaries. Diamond nods and follow Libby as she takes the lead.

They stalk up the log and onto the shelving, where they shadowed Gulum-Ei as he passes through a maze of goods. A couple guards nod to him in recognition, and move along. Libby toggles her way around a basket of swords, and as Diamond follows, she feel her ankle nick a dagger. It flops and clatters to the floor.

"What was that?" the mercenary says, drawing an iron axe.

Diamond's hand slipped into her belt, where a dozen of slender daggers were clipped tight. She draws three and throws. The wickedly sharp point pierced the side of his neck. Libby instantly jumps down and first kicks the man hard in the stomach before punching him left and right, then bringing his head down and ramming her knee into his forehead. He collapses, unable to cry out to the others. Sheathing her second dagger Diamond had grabbed in case she missed, she helps hoist Libby up after looting the body, and they continue on Gulum-Ei's tail.

As they follow, Libby helps herself to the many chests and dressers available in the warehouse, while Diamond snatches a few more daggers and swords. They were near a boat parked by the docks, with one guard aboard. Libby draws her bow and readies an arrow. The double-pronged head giving Diamond a shudder. She watches as Libby applies some of the Frostbite Venom she acquired and lets the arrow fly. Within seconds of hitting the guard, she collapses with tight, rigid cords of sickly green veins webbed across the girl's body and limbs, like ropes under her skin.

Her fall catches the attention of another one, and Libby loads a clean arrow this time, Diamond readying her dagger. Libby lets the arrow go, and Diamond jumps down. Just as it pierces the guard's up right thigh, Diamond springs into action. The man notices her, and as he swings his greatsword, Diamond ducks below it, ramming her head upwards, nailing the man in the chin. Then she grabs him by the ears and scruffs of hair and drives her knee to his nose. Then grabbing him about the neck by her arm, they swing around and he crashes into the shelving, then Diamond kicks him in the stomach, rattling the contents and having him fall unconscious.

Diamond gives Libby a thumbs up and the girls continue onward, Diamond sticking to the lower level. They follow him to a stairway that leads down under the decks when three more guards show up. Libby holds Diamond back, and Diamond stays crouched as Libby jumps down and she launches in a round-off.

Back flipping twice, when she lands, she punches on man in the chin snapping his head back, instantly out. Libby dances between the two men, her dagger a blur of steel. Both men are bleeding, and one in particular was soaked with blood from a gash underneath his arm. Diamond watches as Libby ducks a sideways slash, spins on her heels, and then lunges to the side of a thrust. The sword pierces the air inches from Libby's face, but she seems to not care how close she comes to death. Libby's dagger punches underneath the breastplate, slicing open the flesh and spilling intestines to the splintered wood of the docks.

The girls nod and follow Gulum-Ei further to a small hidden passageway behind some containers leading to a place called Brinewater Grotto. Once inside, the girls ready their weapons.

"Jeez, never seen anything quite like this." Diamond whispers.

"The cave is part of a much larger cave system, but the rest of the area is blocked off by a hidden stone door." Libby says.

"But if it's hidden, how do you know about it?" Diamond asks.

"I just notice these things." Libby winks.

Taking a few steps in, Libby stops them and activates a tripwire that sends a mace swinging to their heads.

"Slimy bastard." Dia curses.

They exits the tunnel way and come to a small section of shelving with a small pier, and two bandits talking amongst one another.

"Should've known she was lying . . . said she'd wait for me . . . but they never wait." he says.

Libby looks to Diamond. Diamond signals Libby to go around back while she slinks close to the shelving. Libby nods and draws an arrow. She creeps around another set of shelves so that she's behind on of the bandits. This one only had on fur armor, so when Libby's arrow flies, it pierces through his chest and he falls. The other is an Orc. He readies his axe and jogs around near Libby's hiding spot.

Diamond sprints forward and pushes off her feet, flipping in midair. She lands with her feet on the shoulders of the Orc, and following her momentum, dives forward and ducks through his legs, flipping him over and into the shelves. He catches himself and rolls coming up on one knee, but Diamond is already at his face, forcefully leading her knee into the side of his head, then kicking with her other foot before taking him by his ponytail and ramming his head against the stone. He slumps to the ground.

"Cool moves." Libby compliments.

"Gabriella taught me that one." Dia smiles.

As they progress deeper, two more are ahead. Libby loads her how and takes out both with a deadly headshot. Further still, they encounter more and leave a trail of bodies lying in a bloody path that ends at a small cave area where most of the expensive goods remain. Four more marauders are there, yet still unaware of the intruders. But these ones seem to be quite the challenge.

"No doubt Gulum-Ei's there." Libby whispers. "Saved the big boys for last."

"So, how should we do this?" Diamond asks. "Please tell me we get to make an entrance. My thighs are starting to tingle."

Libby smiles and loads an arrow. Judging from the small pouch and lighter, it was a homemade explosive. When arrow flies, it's aimed at the fore. Upon impact, the entire cave erupts in smoke.

"Now!" Libby yells.

"Aw yeah!" Diamond hollers.

Both girls leap into the shadows as Gulum-Ei and the bandits shout in the smoke.

Libby spots two in the haze and charges forward. She jumps and flips in the air before slamming down onto one, driving his face into the dirt. As the second one prepares his sword, Libby kicks his feet out from under him, then whirls out of the way as an arrow flies by her head. She chucks two daggers at the archer, knocking her out. Then when the other two arrive, Diamond swings in and stabs one in the side with her dagger, then punching the other left then right, and vaulting her over her back.

The bandit Libby crashed on rises up and readies his Warhammer. Diamond snatches an old bar from the loot and uses it to pole-vault herself over Libby and slams her foot into the man's chest, then flipping it around, she whacks him in the head. But he grabs Diamond by the ankle and throws her halfway across the cave. Libby dodges his first two punches, but he grabs Libby by the braid and Libby feels herself hauled off her feet and thrown in the air. Her back slams against the shelving and she falls to the ground a few feet from Diamond.

The smoke soon clears, and Gulum-Ei is hiding in the crevice of two shelves.

The other two bandits rise behind Libby and Libby spins out of the ay of their oncoming feet and pushes to stand. As she blocks one's punches with her forearm, she keeps her back to the other, but elbows him in the face when he draws a mace. Quickly pulling out a dagger, Libby jabs it in his stomach. She then kicks at the bandit in front of her in the stomach with one knee, and kicks her back with the other. As the archer rises to shoot another arrow, Libby sends three daggers flying at her, two of which sticking in both her arms. She yelps and Diamond comes flipping in for the final kick that makes her go limp.

The last bandit stands with a battleaxe. Diamond jumps down with Libby and cracks her knuckles. "You're an embarrassment to your own kind!" Diamond provokes.

The bandit snarls, "I'll paint the floor with your blood!"

He charges forward and Diamond flips back while Libby pulls out a sword and dagger. She meets the bandit, crossing her weapons so that it blocks the blow of the axe. Libby then head-butts him, making him stagger. She then spins the blade of her dagger and slashes at the man's upper thigh. He grunts and grits his teeth. Libby knees him in the head, and then crouches to let Diamond roll over her back and kick the man in the face. He falls, his weapon clattering to the floor.

Libby looks to Gulum-Ei who rises to his feet as the chaos deflates. "Now, there's no need to do anything rash . . . This isn't as bad as it seems." He says.

Libby keeps her weapons out and twirls her dagger between her fingers. Her face blank, but eyes filled with murderous intent.

"I was going to tell Mercer about everything, honestly! Please . . . he'll have me killed!" Gulum-Ei pleads.

Libby narrows her eyes. "Mercer isn't your concern right now."

As Gulum-Ei opens his mouth, a dagger presses to his neck. Diamond stands behind him, a bloody sword about her waist, and pinning Gulum-Ei's one arm behind his back.

"Tell us now, or we kill you where you stand!" Libby says.

The dagger scrapes against Gulum-Ei's neck. A drop of blood runs down his neck.

"No please! There's no need for that! I'll tell you everything." Gulum-Ei says. "It's Karliah . . . her name is Karliah."

Diamond's dagger shifts against his skin, and from the brief pause, he figured they were confused.

"You say that name like I should know it." Libby says.

"Mercer never told you about her? Karliah is the thief responsible for murmuring the previous Guild Master, Gallus. Now she's after Mercer." He explains.

"And you're helping her?" Libby seethes, approaching closer.

"Help . . . ? No, no! Look I didn't even know it was her until after she contacted me. Please, you have to believe me."

"Where is Karliah now?" Libby asks.

"I don't know. When I asked her where she was going, she just muttered "Where the end began."

"You had better not be lying, Gulum-Ei." Libby intimidates. "False tongues are often split."

Diamond digs the tip of the dagger into the soft skin of the Argonian's neck.

"No, no! Here, take the Goldenglow Estate deed as proof." He says. Libby snatches the parchment, and diamond removes her dagger from Gulum-Ei's neck. "And when you speak to Mercer, tell him I'm worth more to him alive."

Libby gives Diamond the order to let him go. "Go on ahead, I need to have a moment's word."

"Don't take too long." Diamond warns. "Oh, by the way, you have quite the mess to clean up." She winks then heads back through the grotto.

Libby leans in close. "Sorry about your, workers." She whispers.

"Eh, they were gold diggers anyway. Mooched more coin off me than they deserved. So you think she bought it?" Gulum-Ei asks.

"Every word." Libby assures. "But I still don't feel comfortable about this."

"You wanted it to be believable, Libby. This is what it takes." Gulum-Ei reminds.

Libby nods and turns to leave. She catches up to Diamond and jogs up behind her.

"I don't think that could've gone any better." Diamond chirps.

Libby chuckles. "Thanks so much for coming. I probably wouldn't have made it without your help."

"Awwww! No problem, I got you girl." Diamond smiles. "It was getting boring staying cooped up in the Guild. Sometimes I think you take the jobs just to get the hell out of there."

"At least our "timeout" is almost up, and since we didn't travel together, Mercer can't get upset. He said we couldn't be seen together, he never said we couldn't work together."

"I love loopholes." Diamond smiles.

They trudge back through the warehouse this time avoiding the mercenaries they may have missed. Slipping back outside, they both take a deep breath of fresh air.

"Never knew it was so stuffy in there." Diamond speaks as she stretches.

"Come on, we need to get this back to the Guild." Libby instructs. "You have enough money for a ride?"

"Yeah I'll meet you there. Better yet, I'll beat you there!" Diamond giggles.

"Diamond!"

The two girls race up the docks and Libby fetches her horse while Diamond checks with the carriage driver. Yet rather than challenge one another, Libby walks behind the carriage and the girls keep conversation all the way through the ride. Diamond swiftly changes into a belted tunic, tucking her Brotherhood armor away. The veils of muted colors of dusk fall along the sky as the girls talk and laugh through the terrain. When they arrive at the gates of Riften, Libby steer her horse into the stables. Libby stalls by petting her horse as Diamond enters first. Then she counts in her head before following.

Libby jogs her way through the town, the shops just closing up for the night. Then she sneaks through the archways under the Temple of Mara where she finds Dia waiting at the mausoleum.

Libby pushes the button of the Guild inward as Diamond keeps watch of guards. Stepping down, Libby motions Diamond and then pulls the chain when they're both under. Libby waits for Diamond to change before they enter the Cistern.

Members are scattered about and Brynjolf must be in the Flagon since Libby doesn't see him around the Cistern. Mercer is hovered over his desk, and the girls watch as he crumples a piece of paper and swear profusely. He spots the girls approaching and narrows his eyebrows. There's suspicion in his eyes, but he doesn't say anything. Diamond hangs back watching Thrynn shoot some arrows while listening to their conversation.

"Did Gulum-Ei give up any information on our buyer?" he asks in an annoyed tone.

"He said it was purchased by a "Karliah." Libby says.

Mercer's eyes narrow and his lip contorts into a snarl. "No, it . . . it can't be." Mercer growls through grit teeth. "I haven't heard that name in decades. This is grave new indeed, she's someone I hoped to never cross paths with again."

"Gulum-Ei also told me she was a murderer." Libby adds.

"Karliah destroyed everything this Guild stood for." Mercer snaps. "She murdered my predecessor in cold blood and betrayed the Guild. After we discovered what she'd done, we spent months trying to track her down, but she just vanished."

"Why has she returned?" Libby asks.

"Karliah and I were like partners. I went on her every heist. We watched each other's backs." Mercer explains. "I know her techniques, her skills. If she kills me, there will be no one left who could possibly catch her. If only we knew where she was . . ."

"Gulum-Ei told me she said, "Where the end began." Libby says.

"There's only one place that could be. The place where she murdered Gallus . . . a ruin called Snow Veil Sanctum." Mercer says. "We have to get out there before she disappears again."

Libby and Diamond tense in unison. "We?" Libby clarifies.

"Yes I'm going with you, and together we're going to kill her." Mercer states. "Here's your payment for Solitude."

Diamond saunters over, with her hands behind her back. "Uh, maybe I should go with you guys. I mean, if it's an ancient burial crypt there's bound to be a lot of draugr. A lot. You'll probably need my help." Diamond persuades.

Mercer glares at her, and Libby quickly interjects. "Can she come, Mercer? Out two week time is almost up. It could make things easier. Please . . . ?"

Mercer looks to Libby, and dread pools in her stomach. "I'm going to give this to you straight, Libby. Diamond isn't good enough to join us."

Libby's heart triples in speed while Diamond's sinks into her stomach.

"She inexperienced, and isn't exactly the best at "keeping to the shadows. The last thing I need is some _kid_, blundering around the tomb and awakening every draugr we come across. Not to mention she'll alert Karliah long before we even reach her. She stays here."

"You know Mercer," Diamond snaps. "I don't ever recall asking for your approval of what I do. You do your thing, and I do mine. I've got plenty of your flaws I could list for you."

Mercer snarls like an animal and Libby glares to Diamond to shut up.

"Mercer please. Diamond, she can be great at stealth. It's what she does so she doesn't get caught _murdering_ people." Libby argues.

Mercer folds his arms. "When was the last stealth mission that you had, that was a success when you brought Diamond along?"

Libby flicks her eyes away from his dark gaze to think. "This one! The East Empire one."

"_One_ out of the how many I've assigned you." Mercer counters. "She's nothing but a risk."

"_She_, is right here!" Diamond interjects.

"And _here_ is where you'll stay!" Mercer finalizes. He turns to Libby. "Prepare yourself, Libby and meet me at the ruins as soon as you can. We can't let Karliah slip through our fingers."

"But Mercer -!" Libby starts.

"Enough, Libby. My answer is final." Mercer sneers, then turns away back towards his desk. She managed to snatch Libby's map and updates to where the ruin is. He hands it back to her. "Now go and see Tonilia to replace your armor."

Libby huffs and takes her cue to leaves. Diamond is about to say something when Libby grabs her arm and guides her away. When they're in the entryway of the Flagon, they walk three steps before Libby makes an immediate left into a small room with two beds, a trunk, and a cupboard. This must be where Dirge and Vekel sleep.

Libby approaches her carefully, as if she's waiting for Diamond to explode. "Diamond, listen . . ."

"You don't need to say anything for apologize. This isn't your fault." Diamond cuts her off.

"Are you okay? I mean that was rude of him to call you . . . inexperienced. And a . . ."

"I know, I'll be fine." Diamond claims.

Libby doesn't like this. She expected Diamond to cuss Mercer out, maybe even try and claw his eyes out, but she just let Libby guide her away, and that is worse. If she had exploded, her anger would have been spent quickly, after a swear word or two. Letting Libby drag her away means that she's letting Mercer's words penetrate that thick impenetrable skull of hers. Well, previously impenetrable.

"Diamond, don't you let him get to you." Libby orders.

"I'm not, I'm just . . . pissed at his attitude. I don't know, I'm just done." she says taking a seat.

"No, no, no. Don't be done. Yell, scream, kick a chair, do something!" Libby says. "Just don't be like this."

"Like what?"

"Like all, calm angry. It's a very confusing oxymoron and it's just not you." Libby says.

"Libby, I'll be fine. If I whack a few dummies will it make you feel better?" Diamond smiles gently.

"Maybe you should just decapitate one." Libby smiles back.

The two girls hug and Libby kisses the crown of Dia's head; making Diamond giggle.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Libby asks as they draw back.

"Yes!" Diamond squeaks. "Now go, go get some potions, ready your bow. Go. I need to get back to the sanctuary anyway."

"Okay. Come with me to get my armor at least?" Libby asks.

Diamond chuckles and nods, ushering Libby out. The two girls walk into the Flagon and approach Tonilia at the forefront of the Flagon.

"Well, you seem to be making things brighter around here." She says. "I'm supposed to allow you to trade in one of your pieces of Guild armor, so what will it be?"

"Anything different about it?" Diamond asks.

"Of course, otherwise it wouldn't be much of reward, now would it?" Tonilia snaps. "Your new piece will enhance your skill beyond that of the original. Trust me."

"I'll trade my cuirass." Libby says.

"Are you sure? Once I exchange it for you, I'm not taking it back . . . unless you want to sell it at a discount of course."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay, there you go."

Libby exchanges her old torn armor for a new one, and the difference is noticeable. The leather is new and slick, and added more pockets and belts for weapons. Libby shrugs it on, Unphased by the other members of the Flagon and adjusts the straps.

"Thanks Tonilia."

"Until next time." She gives with a ghost of a smile.

Diamond follows Libby back into the Cistern and up to the mausoleum entrance. They follow together not talking as they approach the gates. Sometimes the silence is more comfort than actual words.

As Libby munts her horse, and Diamond climbs into the carriage, Libby turns and waves back. Diamond gives her a salute before the driver snaps the reins. They follow Libby for five minutes before Libby turns left and Diamond turns right.

The whole time, Diamond's stomach must've shrunk down to the size of a walnut; because the tight feeling inside it won't go away. And that's never a good thing.


	12. Chapter 12

Diamond keeps quiet as she enters the Sanctuary. Morning was breaking as she bypasses the skull door. She stretches and yawns before walking in. The door shuts behind her and she carefully treads down the steps.

But when she arrives, Astrid is already waiting for her. Diamond halts her steps as Astrid approaches. Her face is blank.

"We need to talk." She says.

"Of course, Astrid. What is it?" Diamond asks, careful to keep a proper posture.

"Look, I've been thinking about what you've said, about The Faceless." She says. "If the Night Mother really did give you an order to talk to a contract, we'd be mad to ignore it. And I think we'd both agree, Cicero's brought quite enough madness to this Sanctuary."

Diamond nods.

"So go. Go to Volunruud. It's a crypt pretty far to the northeast. Talk to this Amaund Motierre. And let's see where all this leads. Hmm?" Astrid says.

Diamond sighs. "Can I at least rest for a few minutes?" she asks.

Astrid looks back. "Of course. Sorry to make it seem like you never rest. You may visit him tomorrow when you're well rested."

Diamond nods and heads down through the main chamber of the Sanctuary up to the bedrooms. She throws herself onto her bed and as soon as her head hits the pillow, her eyes shut instantly.

* * *

Libby finishes purchasing Potions of Healing at the Apothecary shop Elgrim's Elixirs, located on the western end of the channel in Riften on the lower level. She had delivered an ore sample to a blacksmith in Shor's Stone a while back, and she's been a welcome customer ever since.

"Thank you." Libby smiles sweetly.

"Don't forget us if you need potions and ingredients." Hafjorg, Elgrim's wife says.

Libby nods and exits the shop. She adjusts her new cuirass as she rounds the lower level. It was around noon when she decided to finally leave Honeyside. Her wounds healing faster with every flick of her wrist, activating the Healing ward.

She spots the Thief's Cache barrel and looks through it. A Thief Cache is a barrel that can be looted for various items. The Thief's Cache shadowmark is present on the side of the Barrel. It's sort of an award for the Guild members. It's stashed with all the gear and equipment a member would need such as: lockpicks, potions, and some weapons. Another barrel is located up top next to Honeyside. This one has thirty-two lockpicks, a Potion of Prolonged Invisibility, and a Potion of Stamina.

She walks until she reaches the staircase opposite the Square. Climbing up she's just outside Honorhall Orphanage.

As she walks to the gate, she keeps a hand on her stomach. A feeling similar to when one drinks too much mead, is knotting in the pit of her stomach. She almost knelt over the docks afraid she might start retching.

This is her first mission with Mercer. The first ever in her nineteen years with the Guild. The pressure is enough to make Libby's insides twist. Add that she's about to lure him intoa trap, and the fear of him catching on before that makes Libby's intestines writhe like someone's stirring them with a fork.

She takes a deep breath as she pushes through the gates. Saddling up her horse, Libby mounts and clicks her tongue. They head down the main road and Libby keeps a grip on her map. Her main stop would be Windhelm, every other stop she'll camp overnight.

Taking a deep breath, Libby snaps her reins and trots up the hill.

The ruin is south-east of Winterhold, directly north of Windhelm, and slightly north-east of Stillborn Cave. Throughout the day, she stops through Shor's Stone, follows a carriage to Windhelm. From there it's a straight shot north to Snow Veil Sanctum. The sanctum is a multilevel dungeon full of draugr and a number of tripwires, bone chimes and pressure plate based traps.

Libby keeps to the main roads as best she can, then when the snow starts to blur the cobblestone, she pulls up her hood and keeps her grip on her map tight. On her map she follows the path to Stillborn Cave, and then turns right instead of left. Trotting her horse up to the mound she finds Mercer standing outside in the front. Libby notices a dead horse off to the side near a campfire and a tent with a bedroll inside.

She dismounts and approaches Mercer, rubbing her arm to wipe away the goosebumps.

"Good, you're finally here." Mercer says. "I've scouted the ruins and I'm certain Karliah is still inside."

"You saw her?" Libby asks wide-eyed.

"No, I found her horse. Don't worry I've taken care of it . . . she won't be using it escape." Mercer says. "Let's get moving. I want to catch her inside while she's distracted. Take the lead." He orders.

"Yes, sir. Understood." Libby says.

Mercer gives a sly smile. "Hmm, quaint. Just make certain you keep your eyes open. Karliah is as sharp as a blade. The last thing I need is you blundering into a trap and warning her that we're here."

Libby nods and is about to climb the ruin, when she stops. Karliah was probably more than ready, but still buying her a little time doesn't hurt. She turns to Mercer.

"What, what is it?" he asks.

"Tell me about Karliah." Libby continues. Mercer glares. "If we're going in there, I need to know what we're up against."

Despite Mercer's stern look, he sighs. Libby plants her bottom on the ruin when she's halfway up, and hugging her ankles.

"She was a stubborn Dunmer . . . always had to do everything her way." Mercer says. "But she was also the best . . . bringing in more coin a month more than some thieves heist in a year. Gallus trusted her too much and let her get too close."

"So, they had a relationship?" Libby perks with interest.

"If you want to call it that, yes. Me? I think she was softening him for the kill. Gallus would call her his "little nightingale." He was absolutely smitten by her."

"Why did she kill him?" Libby presses.

"Greed? Jealousy? Spite? Who can say what drove her to such an iniquitous act. One thing's certain. I intend to find out before she draws her last breath."

"But isn't murder like, Dark Brotherhood territory?" Libby says. "Why not hire someone?"

"You know as well as I do that the Guild has a long standing arrangement with the Dark Brotherhood. If I need someone in the Guild taken care of, we do it ourselves. We both agree it's best to keep these matter in house." Mercer says.

"So then, how did Gallus die?" Libby asks.

Mercer sigh in aggravation. "Twenty-five years ago I was standing outside these very same ruins. Gallus told me to meet here but he wouldn't say why." Mercer tells. "When I arrived, Gallus stepped from the shadows. Before he uttered a sound an arrow pierced his throat."

Libby's eyes widen and she hugs her ankles tighter. The urge to dig her fingernails in his eyes thrashes inside her chest like a Sabre Cat. But she bites the inside of her bottom lip.

"Before I could even draw my blade, her second found its mark in my chest."

"So, Karliah took on both of you alone?" Libby asks.

"Karliah was a master marksman and her greatest weapon was the element of surprise. I was lucky . . . she missed my heart by mere inches." Mercer says. He folds his arm and leans against the ruin. "I staggered away from the ruins and my vision began to blur. It's then that I realized the bitch had poisoned her arrows."

"And, Gallus?"

"The last thing I saw was Karliah dumping his body into an opening atop the ruins; an unceremonious end for a remarkable man. To this day I've regretted allowing her to escape, even if it meant I had died trying. I owed Gallus that much." Mercer says.

"What happened after Gallus died?" Libby asks shyly, twirling the end of her braid.

"The Guild was thrown into disarray. Several stepped up and tried to claim Gallus's former position as Guild Master. Sides quickly formed behind these men and the Ratway became a blood bath." Mercer describes.

"And you were a part of this?"

"I saw what they did to Gallus. I wanted to use the Guild's resources to hunt down Karliah. The others didn't even care he was gone. Fortunately, I persevered and the other groups were either killed or they left Skyrim. " says Mercer.

"And what of Karliah?"

"The infighting had taken months to subside which gave her time to go into hiding and carefully cover her tracks." He says. "I spend thousands of septims and used every contact at my disposal, but it was if she had simply vanished . . . like I said before, she was the best."

"Well then, let's take her down." Libby springs from her seat and dusts off her pants.

She climbs her way up the ruins and heads down the steps wither Mercer on her heels. When she reaches the door, she halts her steps when she sees blood splattered on the floor going in. Her stomach clenches, and she swallows back bile. She knows it's already locked, but it can't be picked. Libby steps back and observes the door as Mercer comes down. Karliah must've done away with the key.

Libby jumps as Mercer speaks close behind her. "They say these ancient Nord burial mounds are sometimes impenetrable. Mm, this one doesn't look to difficult." Mercer says.

He brushes past her, and Libby walks up to observe; giving a small amount of room.

"Quite simple really, I don't know what the fuss is about these locks. All it takes is a bit of know-how and a lot of skill." Mercer says.

Libby steps closer as his fingers flick left and right. Then he stands. "That should do it." Libby approaches and pushes the door open with the gentlest touch of her fingers. The doors open wide on silent hinges.

Suddenly she feels Mercer's hand press to the small of her back. His fingers are so long that, though the heel of his hand touches one side of her back, his fingertips still touch the other. Libby's heart pounds so hard her chest hurts, and she stares at him, wide-eyed.

"After you." He says in a quiet voice.

He lifts his head and stands back. Libby can still feel the pressure of his palm even after it's gone. Libby takes a deep breath and readies her bow as they enter in. After walking down a narrow passage, they come to a circular room with a pillar at the epicenter. The smell of dusted corpses and torch smoke thickens the air to make breathing a chore.

"Ugh, the stench in here . . . this place smells of death. Be on your guard." Mercer instructs.

Further in, the come to a room in a semi-circle with a dead draugr sprawled on the floor. There are three gates, two on the left wall, the other ahead leading to the next room. Libby loots it for gold, loots all the urns and the trunk at the peak of the semi-circle, then pulls the chain on the wall. It doesn't open the gate they want, but Libby still goes and finds a Potion of Healing and Stamina.

She walks around the room to find a lever that opens up the gate. She heads down a small set of stairs into another chamber, this has coffins lined along one wall, standing upright or laying on the floor. Bodies of draugr are scatted around.

"Pull the chain over there and watch out for the spikes." Mercer instructs. "Looks like Karliah reset all the traps."

Libby nods and goes over to the chain, wedging herself into the hinges and pulls. The gate rattle and swings, banging to a stop inches from the wall, the spikes centimeters from penetrating Libby's flesh. The gate retracts and settles back.

Perusing forward they head down deeper and come to a gathering burial chamber. Where they stock more than one body into the walls. Up ahead, Libby can see a draugr with his arms crossed, head down. She narrows her eyes and loads an arrow.

Pulling the string back, the arrow flies and pierces the draugr in the gut. It groans and collapses to the floor. Libby eases her way in and finds another standing opposite of it. She notions to Mercer who nods. Libby loads another arrow and aims for the head. The arrow hits, but the draugr still awakens.

Libby rolls out of the way as it steps down, letting Mercer slash at it with his Dwarven blade. "You're death will be my triumph!"

She watches as he spins in a circle with one blade in each hand, slashing at the draugr. Libby is stunned as with every slash he made, she could see the life force of the draugr leech from its body to Mercer. She readies an arrow, but the draugr is about to strike when Mercer slides in front and blocks its weapon. He pushes off and stabs it in the head. It collapses.

"That wasn't a fight, it was an execution." He boasts, sounding bored.

As they navigate through the maze of tunnels, Libby keeps her eyes ahead when she hears sloshy footsteps ahead. She slinks close to the wall and loads an arrow. A draugr wielding a greatsword comes walking up. When she aims for the head, it drops to the floor, tumbling down the stairs.

The sound of another one ahead, makes Libby load another arrow. She creeps in just as it steps out from its sarcophagus. She impales its eye and watches as its body erupts in flames from the enchantment on her bow. Mercer comes in with a slash to its jugular before its dead, again.

Another comes running up and shoots an arrow at Libby. At the last minute she rolls out of the way and shoots her own, impaling it in the draugr's stomach. Libby sheathes her bow and pulls out her sword and dagger. As the corpse swings an axe, Libby blocks, thrust, and kicks its legs out from under it. Spinning her blade she stabs it through the chest.

Two more Draugr Scourge come from the crypt and Libby swears under her breath. Before she can launch, the draugr opens its mouth, and instantly Libby's blasted back into the wall by The Voice, as the Nords call it.

The impact would've knocked the wind right out of her if she hadn't flipped in midair and have her feet land on the wall; the second they do she pushes off and keeps her arms straight in front of her, her blades out. She manages to get both its eyes, and swings with her momentum forward, flipping it over her and into a third draugr approaching.

The one that it crashed into staggers back and tries to get up before Mercer comes running in and sticking his dagger through its jaw and slicing off its head.

Libby swallows thickly.

"Two more of them ahead." Mercer says.

"Are you kidding me?" Libby breathes.

She looks and finds more draugr out of their sarcophaguses and weapons ready. Sniffing the air, Libby look to the floor to find kerosene. There's an archway that has a tripwire. Libby activates it and a lantern falls igniting the fuel instantly. The draugr have thick, guttural screams that bounce off the crypt walls.

When they're down, Libby stalks through the room and finds another gate. Pulling on the chain they head down a small hallway and on her left is a room with strings of bones strewn together, dangling on the ceiling.

Mercer comes up behind Libby. "Bones chimes . . . clever. Rigged to wake the draugr I'd bet. Don't blunder into any of them."

"Is that your favorite word or something? Blunder?" Libby teases.

Libby chuckles as she weaves through the chimes to the other end of the room where she opens the gate. She quickly glances over her shoulder to check if it woke the draugr, but they remain still. As dead corpses should be.

They head down a curving corridor, and Libby believes they're so far underground that her ears begin to pop. As they near the end, into the next wide chamber are two more armed draugr. Libby can see more coffins spread along the floor. She and Mercer hadn't even entered when the lid of another coffin pop jerks off; a cloud of dust billowing in result. A draugr throws its legs over the edge and eases its way out.

This is going to be bad.

Libby loads an arrow and shoots the one coming out of the coffin and it thankfully dies instantly. However it attracted the attention of the others. Calculating the number of footsteps, there's at least ten of them in there. And if they all possess the power of the Voice, this could get very, very bad.

Mercer charges in while Libby stays hidden in the doorway, shooting her arrows undetected. She manages to shoot out three before four more come running in, gathering around Mercer. Instantly, Libby charges into the room.

"I'll spit on your corpse!" Mercer yells.

Libby runs in loading another arrow. A draugr spots her and she watches it inhale. As it shouts, Libby launches herself into the air, flipping and grabbing an arrow and firing it. It pierces as the draugr opens its mouth for anther shout; sticking through its mouth.

Mercer grunts and falls to one knee as the draugr ready for the killing blow. Libby loads her bow and shoots three arrows, one for each. They land in the head, stomach and shoulder; only the victim of the headshot falls. With another one behind her, Libby sprints forward and pushes off her toes.

Her hands grab the one draugr by the shoulders as the other two come up behind her. She twists harshly so that the draugr's arms flail, slapping the other two, making them stagger. One pushes up and charges for Libby, and she flips over it, kicking its legs out from under it, and then driving her dagger into its chest. It deflates and relaxes to the floor.

Libby hears the slings of steel and jumps and flips out of the way as another one swings its Warhammer. Two more gather around, encircling her.

"Hmph, you've just written your own epitaph." Libby smirks.

Libby spins the blades of her sword and dagger out, snarling. One decides to strike, and Libby kicks her leg up, nailing its jaw, and when one goes to slash her with his sword, she grabs its wrist and flips it over her back.

Mercer finally rises, as two more file in. One Draugr Scourge grabs Libby from behind while they charge towards her. Libby kicks both her legs to the sides and wrenches herself from Scourge, then spinning and kicking it in the head. She stabs her sword in its side as it falls. Mercer takes on the final one and spins slashing at its torso before it dies. Without asking if he's okay, Libby retrieves her arrows from the bodies, inhaling deeply to catch her breath.

"Gods, I fucking hate these things!" She shouts, slamming her foot into a dead draugr's head.

"Calm down," Mercer speaks. "Karliah must be close. Lead on."

Libby stares at him hard before she sheathes her dagger and sword, pulling out her bow again. They head up a set of stairs off to the right and up into hallway where she kills a skeever. Heading up further they come to a walkway above the crypt they were in moments ago. The walkway has a chain guard around it, and Libby can't help but be grateful for the safe feeling it gives her. Falling to her death always was a fear of her; never really her favorite way to die.

She turns left into another hall, internally whooping with joy when she finds the door leading into the inner sanctum.

"Karliah always was a nimble minx . . . slipping past these draugr must've been child's play for her." Mercer says.

Libby huffs as she pushes through the door. They've entered the main crypt; cubby holes all along the walls are filled with draugr. Some looking like they might come alive, others not. Libby stops when she finds one that may come to life. She loads an arrow, but thinks; it would be easier to sneak past them rather than shoot them all. Libby sheathes her bow and hears Mercer do the same.

They creep down three steps before she hears the sloppy footsteps of an awoken draugr. Libby signals to Mercer to wait, and he does. She picks up a rock and tosses it to the gate at the end. It clangs loudly and attracts the draugr.

Libby snickers. "Dumbass."

Libby silently rolls up to it with its back turned, and pulls out her dagger. She reaches up and clamps her hand over its mouth, ignoring the feeling of moist skin and snaggletooth teeth. She buries her knife in its throat all the way up to the hilt. Then prying it loose, she prepares herself for the feeling of blood, but none comes.

The sense of danger tingles her spine and Libby instantly spins around and knocks aside the blade of another draugr and kicking it in the side. Dipping low she swipes its feet out and as it falls leaves her dagger pointed up so it stabs through the draugr's neck.

Mercer comes up behind her, heading for another one ahead. "You're not a threat . . . merely an annoyance."

Libby sneaks her way to the gate, which is piled with pots to alarm Karliah. Libby can't help but give credit to her. When Mercer said she was the best, it was the truth. Libby makes mental notes to try these things the next time she's on a case.

Mercer cuts down the draugr, and Libby opens the gate, the pots clattering all over the place. Libby notices a pressure plate the second before she steps in; jumping back, she bumps into Mercer as small arrows fly this way and that.

"Sorry," Libby mumbles as she steps away from Mercer.

They continue through and Mercer says. "We're on the right track. She's been through here as well."

Libby doesn't say anything as they round a corner to another draugr. Libby snarls, sheathes her bow and draws her knife, raising it above her head. The draugr turns at the last second, Libby drives the blade into its skull.

Grabbing the scruffs of hair atop its head, she holds it there as she stabs the corpse in the heart, then the stomach. It falls with a guttural growl and Libby beats its head into the stone cropping of the cubbyholes. Mercer looks to her with raised eyebrows, and Libby only continues on.

The bound up more stairs and find an already defeated draugr lying on the floor. Up ahead is a hallway with large double iron doors at the end. It must lead into a larger chamber, and that can mean more draugr. The word not fills Libby's mouth with a bitter taste and her lip contorts into a snarl.

She kicks the door open and sends three big pots skipping across the stone floor. On a platform up front, two coffin tops pop off and the growling of draugr can be heard. Libby loads an arrow, but coats with Frostbite Venom before firing. The draugr dies instantly, and Mercer sneaks in and up the steps to attack the other Libby stays on the lower level, firing arrows as he approaches. When Mercer's up, he merely stabs it in the diaphragm before if falls.

"Hmph, hardly a challenge." He says.

"Now I know why I never come down these things." Libby says.

She heads up to the platform and loots a large chest filled with potions and more of her arrows. With looting the bodies so she doesn't lost them, her quiver now has over eighty arrows total. Handing off a Potion of Healing to Mercer, Libby shuts the trunk and jump down to a gate on the left wall.

Turning a corner, Libby comes to find one of the Nordic puzzle doors at the end of a corridor. She sheathes her bow and walks up to the door. Mercer follows behind.

"Ah, it's one of the infamous Nordic puzzle doors. How quaint." He says with a coldly amused tone.

"How do we get in?" Libby asks.

"Without the matching claw, they're normally impossible to open. And since I'm certain Karliah already did away with it, we're on our own." Mercer says.

"Well, you said normally. Meaning you have a way, I presume?" Libby says.

"Fortunately these doors have a weakness if you know how to exploit it. Quite simple really." Mercer says.

Mercer kneels down and Libby folds her arms and watches as he fiddles with the lock. With a snap of fingers the three rings all spin in unison to the correct code and the door begins to slide down after two bumps down. Dust and grit shook down around her, pieces of grime landing in her hair.

"Karliah's close, I'm certain of it. Now let's get moving."

Libby nods and readies her bow. She had only gone two steps in when an arrow pierces her chest. She lets out a nonverbal scream of pain and her vision suddenly blurs and tints everything to green. Libby staggers and wobbles to her knees. She mumbles something, it barely sounds as she collapses to the ground.

Her eyes stiffly flutter open. Her body is still, and the pain in her head is throbbing slightly. Fear ices her spine as she can only twitch her fingers. It feels as if someone has replaced her blood with molasses, and her bones with lead. But she's still breathing. Not deeply; not enough to satisfy but _breathing_. She's completely paralyzed.

Footsteps echo into her ears and she half expects Mercer to help her up, but he steps over her, stopping as a figure emerges from behind the main burial mound, a bow in her hand. Despite her vision and the shadows casting across the figure, she could tell by the round contours of the chest and waist it's a woman.

Karliah.

Libby can't even lift her head to double check that it's who she thinks it is. Mercer stays put. Both of them doing a standoff. Libby's mind is so blurry, her brain prickling with rapid thoughts, and her fear has escalated to where she's starting to rule out reason. Libby lets out a slight whimper and watches as Karliah stops a few feet from Mercer.

Libby hears him speak. "Do you honestly think your arrow will reach me before my blade finds your heart?" he sneers.

"Give me a reason to try." Karliah replies. Her voice was so soft and feminine.

"You're a clever girl Karliah. Buying Goldenglow Estate and funding Honningbrew Meadery was inspired." Mercer says.

Libby tries to move her muscles, but she's as still as a statue. She can't even open her mouth wide enough to mutter a sound. Karliah sheathes her bow.

"To ensure an enemy's defeat, you must first undermine his allies." Karliah quotes. "It was the first lesson Gallus taught us."

Libby's heart triples in speed, at least she thinks it does. All she feels is a gentle patting in her chest.

"You always were a quick study."

"Not quick enough, otherwise Gallus would still be alive."

Libby feels her heart pound against her chest.

"Gallus had his wealth and he had you. All he had to do was look the other way." Libby twitches her fingers in the impulsive attempt to clench her fist.

"Did you forget the Oath we took as Nightingales? Did you expect him to simply ignore your methods?" Karliah provokes.

"Enough of this mindless banter!" Mercer barks, drawing his blade. "Come, Karliah. It's time for you and Gallus to become reunited!"

Libby watches as Karliah pulls out a potion and tips the bottle to her lips. As she wipes her mouth, she vanishes. Invisibility potion; Libby has seen so many of those put to use, she can still see the outline of Karliah.

"I'm no fool, Mercer. Crossing blades with you would be a death sentence. But I can promise the next time we meet, it will be your undoing." Karliah hisses before Libby watches her outline walk up the steps.

Mercer sheathes his sword and as he walks towards Libby, she considers closing her eyes and pretend to be out, but then their eyes connect and it's too late. She feels weak, but she doesn't care. She just wants to move, and get out of this cursed crypt.

"How interesting." Mercer starts. "It appears Gallus's history has repeated itself."

Libby's throat tightens.

"Karliah has provided me with the means to be rid of you, and this ancient tomb becomes your final resting place."

Fear burns through Libby's chest and warms her arms and legs. She manages to let out a small cry, mimicking that of a lost puppy. Her breath catches on a shuddering sob. Mercer grabs Libby's chin with his hand, forcing her to meet his gaze.

"But you know what intrigues me the most? The fact that this was all possible because of you." says Mercer, his voice is harsh as he bites each syllable into pieces.

"M-Mercer . . ." Libby grunts.

Mercer's lips contort into a grotesque parody of mirth. He lets go of Libby's chin and rubs his palm across her cheek, tangling his fingers in her hair. Mercer grins deviously and presses his mouth to Libby's. She whimpers as his kiss is firm and certain. His fingers are strong against her scalp. When he pulls away, Libby gasps for breath.

"At least a kiss is still a kiss." He lets go and stands up, drawing his sword. "Farewell, I'll be certain to give Brynjolf and Diamond your regards."

He approaches Libby, and Libby can feel her eyes water and herself whimpering. Mercer tightens his grip on the blade, and looks to Libby.

She doesn't see the blade go in, but she feels it. Pain spreads through her body and her voice manages to overpower whatever poison that has been infused in her veins, and screams as loud and wide as her mouth is willing to open. Tears run from the corners of Libby's eyes as she feels the blade leave, and a steady stream of blood pools from his side. She can't tell how much, but she's assuming it's enough for to bleed out in seconds.

An invisible thread pulls her towards sleep, but she wants to be awake. It is important that she wants to be awake. She imagines that wanting, that desire, burning in her chest like a flame. The thread tugs harder, and she strokes the flame with names. Diamond. Thrynn. Vex. Cynric. Brynjolf.

But she can't bear up under the weight of Mercer's sword.

Her eyes close, and she hears the whispers of the dark as it encloses around her.

* * *

The cold air nips at Diamond's raw cheeks as she approaches the burial mound. When Diamond's atop of Volunrrud, she jumps down and draws her sword. Her mask allows her to see the aura of living things. Undead or alive. The Undead have a cold blue, while living have a crimson red, mimicking blood. Diamond quickly adjusts her ponytail, securing it tightly with her rubberband.

She then goes into a crouch as she pushes through the doors. The crypt is found north of Silent Moons Camp and Halted Stream Camp, in The Pale hold. The smell of mildew, algae and rotted flesh cause her nose to wrinkle in disgust. Unfortunately her mask has no built in filters.

When entering, Diamond immediately stabs a skeleton sitting on a throne chair to the left. Down the stairs is a large chamber with four branching paths to begin. Squinting her eyes, Diamond watches the auras arise. Two red ones in the southwest. The southwest tunnel leads to a room with a glass skyline above. Diamond finds at least five dead draugr sprawled along the floor, and a closed door. Sheathing her dagger, she kicks at the door and it instantly opens.

Inside is a man wearing fine clothing that could only hint he comes from high places.

"By the almighty Divines. You've come. You've actually come." His voice is filled with envy. "This dreadful Black Sacrament thing . . . it worked."

"The Night Mother head your pleas, Motierre." Diamond says. She keeps her grip on her dagger as she finds a guard standing in the back of the room, arms crossed.

"Yes, um . . . So it would seem. Well, I won't waste your time." He assures. "I would like to arrange a contract. Several, actually."

Diamond stands tall and crosses her arms.

"I daresay, the work I'm offering has more significance than anything your organization has experienced in, well, centuries." Amaund says.

"Go on." Diamond says.

"As I said, I want you to kill several people. You'll find the targets, as well as their manners of elimination, quite varied. I'm sure someone of your disposition will probably even find it enjoyable."

Diamond nods in agreement.

"But you should know that these killings are but a means to an end. For they pave the way to the most important target." Amaund continues. "The real reason I'm speaking with a cutthroat in the bowels of this detestable crypt. For I seek the assassination of . . . the Emperor."

Diamond's body grows cold and numb. She unfolds her arms and can't stop her eyes from widening. Her heart triples in speed as she stares at Amaund.

"I'm sorry, let me just clarify." Diamond says. "You want us to kill . . . the Emperor. Of Tamriel?" she steps closer. Her voice asking for verification.

"That is correct. What I ask is no small thing, of course." says Amaund. "But you represent the Dark Brotherhood. This is . . . what you do? No?"

Diamond shifts uncomfortably.

"You must understand. So much has led to this day. So much planning, and maneuvering. Now, it's as if the very stars have finally aligned." Amaund says. "But I digress. Here, take these. They need to be delivered to your, um . . . superior."

Amaund claps his hands. "Rexus. The items."

Diamond grips her dagger tight as the guard approaches her. "Here." He says. And he hands Diamond a jeweled amulet and a sealed letter.

"The sealed letter will explain everything that needs to be done. The amulet is quite valuable – you can use it to pay for any and all expenses." Amaund explains.

Diamond runs her gloved thumb over the jewels of the amulet. Encrusted with amethyst gemstones, it winks at her in the candlelight; it sparkled in her grasp, as if each jewel held its own glowing ember within. She looks to Amaund, her eyes then flick to the guard.

"Is there . . . something else you need?" Amaund asks, impatient.

"Why do this? Why have the Emperor assassinated?" Diamond asks.

"In the year 3E 41, Emperor Pelaguis Septim was murdered in the Temple of the One in the Imperial City. Cut down by a Dark Brotherhood assassin." Amaund explains. "His killing ushered in, shall we say, a necessary change in Imperial policy."

Diamond taps her foot.

"There are those now who wish for a similar change. I am sorry, but that's all I'm at liberty to say. You must deliver those items to your superior. And I . . . I must get out of this foul place."

Diamond nods and leaves the room, walking back outside. She stands in shock outside the tomb. And emperor. _The_ Emperor of Tamriel.

Wait until Astrid hears about.

Wait until Libby hears about this!

Diamond runs up out of the tomb and heads back to Dawnstar where she catches a carriage ride back to Falkreath. Her seemingly endless supply of adrenaline propels her all the way through the woods to the Sanctuary. She barges through the door and down the steps to Astrid, whom is hunched over her desk.

"You're back. Good. All right, so? Did you meet this Motierre? What did he want?" Astrid interrogates.

"Motierre wants us . . . to kill the Emperor." Diamond manages to say through breathes.

Astrid looks to her with surprised eyes. "You're joking." She states.

Diamond hands her the amulet and note.

"What's this?"

"The letter explains it all. Then amulet if for expenses." Diamond says.

"By Sithis, you're not joking." Astrid says in astonishment. "To kill the Emperor of Tamriel . . . the Dark Brotherhood hasn't done such a thing since the assassination of Pelagius. In fact, no one has dared assassinate an Emperor of Tamriel since the murder of Uriel Septim, and that was two hundred years ago."

"Surely the Night Mother would've misdirect us . . ." Dia says.

"No, she certainly wouldn't. And . . . for whatever reason, she chose to relay Motierre's information to you. I don't know exactly what's going on here, if you're the Listener, or this is some fluke, or what. But what we now have before us . . ."

"So, we'll accept the contract?"

Astrid laughs. "You're damn right we'll accept it.'

She suddenly pulls Diamond close, shoulder to shoulder as she gazes ahead. Picturing the plan in front of her.

"If we pull this off, the Dark Brotherhood will know a feat and respect we haven't seen in centuries. You think I'd abandon an opportunity to lead my family to glory?"

Diamond shakes her head.

"But this is all so much to take in. I need time to read the letter, and figure out where we go from here. And this amulet. Hmm."

"What are you thinking?" Diamond asks.

"I'm thinking we need that amulet appraised. I want to know where it came from, how much it's worth, and if we can actually get away with selling it." Astrid explains. "And there's only one man who can give us what we need – Delvin Mallory."

The mention of Delvin's name sends goosebumps of excitement along Diamond's skin at the opportunity to tell Libby about this opportunity.

"Delvin is a fence, a private operator. Works out of the Ratway, in Riften." Astrid says.

"I know. My best friend works there too . . ." Diamond reminds.

"Oh, of course. Sorry." Astrid giggles. "Sometimes I forget the importance of your friendship. Give me the letter. Take Mallory the amulet. Find out everything you can, and sell it if he's willing. He'll offer a letter of credit – that's fine."

"But why him?" Diamond asks

"Delvin Mallory and the Dark Brotherhood have . . . history. He can be trusted." Astrid insists. She hands Diamond the amulet back and dismisses her.

Diamond nods and scampers out of the Sanctuary. She navigates her way to Riften within a few hours, the dark curtain of night draping over the city as she pushes through the gates.

As she jogs through the streets out to the cemetery, her ears catch the conversation of a couple.

"I had another run in with the Thieves Guild." A woman says.

"Be careful, Mjoll. The Thieves Guild has Maven Black-Brier at her back." Her husband warns.

Diamond ignores them and sneaks her way to the mausoleum entrance. But as she pushes the button, she tries to screw the top, but it won't budge. Diamond tries again, but it's locked up tighter than a drum. Diamond knocks on it a few times, then banging hard to let members know she needs to get it. But nothing happens."

"What the hell?" she mumbles.

Her heart thumps in her chest, though she tries to ignore it. The Guild doesn't usually lock up the Cistern entrance. Diamond pushes away her growing thoughts and heads back out to the Square, and jumping down to the entrance to the Ratways.

She takes a torch from its bracket and follows the path she knows by memory from Libby showing her around one day. She finds the drawbridge and places the torch on an empty bracket as she enters the main room and down to the Flagon entrance.

Diamond enters the Flagon and finds that a merchant has set up shop right outside. Word must be getting around about the Guild again. Libby's hard work finally paying off.

Diamond walks up the ramp and calls, "Hey Delvin -" but she stops when she finds the entire Flagon empty.

The only person there is Vekel the Man who runs the bar. Diamond tucks the amulet away in her pocket as she comes up to the bar.

"Hey, Vekel,"

"Diamond" Vekel looks to her in surprise, as if she startled him. "What are you doing ehre?"

Diamond can't get past how nervous he looks. He keeps looking over his shoulder or around the Flagon. He keeps wiping the counter – as if cleaning is suddenly a priority, avoiding her eyes, but that doesn't concern her. What does concern her is the troubled look on his face.

"I came for Delvin on some Brotherhood business, but where is everyone?" Diamond asks.

Vekel keeps wiping the counter. "They're all in the Cistern, but you shouldn't go in there." He warns.

"Why, is it like some big meeting?" Diamond peers over to the hidden cabinet door.

"Of a sort. Why don't you wait out here?" Vekel suggests. He slaps a heavy tankard filled with ale in front of Diamond, though she hasn't ordered a drink.

"Why? What's going on in there? Is Libby back?" Diamond chirps. Without waiting for an answer, she runs past Vekel.

"Diamond, no!" he shouts.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry. Libby will tell them to let me stay." Diamond says.

"Please don't -"

Vekel's words are cut off by the door clasping shut.

From the small tunnelway, Diamond can see the other members as she approaches. They've all gathered around Mercer's desk, but everyone stands a few feet from one another. As Diamond gets closer, she hears Brynjolf bark. "How could you let this happen?!"

His voice is angry and, hurt.

"She only walked to feet in front of me, Brynjolf!" Mercer growls back.

Something terrible has happened. Dia can feel it with every thump of her heart. _It's Libby._ She's been hurt.

No one notices Diamond until she's right outside the crowd. Someone tries to stop her, Niruin, but she just maneuvers her way up to the front. Mercer leans again his desk clutching his side and blood blooms under his uniform. Brynjolf whirls around to meet Diamond's eyes. His own are red and swollen.

"Dia," he croaks, then clears his throat. "Vekel wasn't supposed to let you in."

Diamond is afraid to ask, because she knows the answer, but she does. "What's going on?"

Her gaze flicks from Brynjolf to Mercer, who only shakes his head.

"Where's Libby?" Dia demands.

"I'm sorry, Diamond." Brynjolf says.

"Sorry about what?" Dia says roughly. Tell me what _happened_!"

Her lungs burn; her next breath rattles as on the way in. She looks to Vex, Cynric, Etienne, but they all refuse to look to her.

Brynjolf takes a deep breath. "Mercer and Libby were on Karliah's trail. They had just entered the inner sanctum . . . and Libby . . ." he folds his lips in. "Libby was shot. And she didn't make it. I'm so sorry."

This must be a lie, because Libby is still alive, her bright eyes and her cheeks flushed and her body full of power and strength, standing in a shaft of light in the Cistern. Libby is still alive.

"No," Diamond says, shaking her head. "No way, there has to be a mistake."

Brynjolf's eyes well up with tears.

Something inside Diamond collapses. Her chest is so tight, suffocating can't breathe.

"Diamond," Brynjolf starts. He extends a hand to Diamond's shoulder. "Look, this isn't your fault. You're just a -"

A hot burst of fire explodes in her chest. She smacks Brynjolf's hand away; her eyhes blaring with anger.

"Don't you dare call me a kid!" she says hotly.

The acoustics of the Cistern make her voice louder than her tone; bouncing it around the circular room. Tears brim the edges of her eyes, blurring Brynjolf's features, making it hard to see.

"I've done things that a mere _kid_ wouldn't be able to do!" she hiccup through her sobs, and tries to sound fierce, but her voice breaks. "You don't know the things that I've seen. The things that I've done! I AM NO CHILD!" she's shouting now.

Her voice pierces her own ears and rings around the Cistern; raw and agonized, flaying the air with their fury.

"I have plenty of skill! I've done so much!" she pauses trying to fight back tears of her anger and sorrow, but they spill over and run down her face.

Diamond read somewhere, once, that crying defies scientific explanation. Tears are only meant to lubricate the eyes. There is no real reason for tear glands to overproduce tears at the behest of emotion.

Libby always thought we cry to release the animal parts of us without losing our humanity. Diamond now thinks she is, was, right. Because inside her is a beast that snarls, growls, and strains for freedom, toward Libby.

"This one time. The _one_ time she needed me . . . and I wasn't there for her!" she screams.

As hard as she tries, Diamond can't kill the animal. She can't kill it.

So she sobs into her hands instead.

Diamond hunches over, unable to support her own grief. She sinks to the ground, the stone is rough under her knees. Still can't breathe. Diamond presses both palms to her chest and rocks back and forth to free the tension in her chest.

She wheezes. Brynjolf steps towards her; easing his way carefully as if afraid to startle her.

"Diamond . . ." he whispers. But to her, his voice sounds muffled, like she has submerged her head underwater. The details of Brynjolf's face have also become difficult to see, the world smearing together into dull colors.

Diamond springs up to stand before he could come any closer. Suddenly, the Cistern becomes too cramped with the other members.

Diamond wants to escape. Diamond _needs_ to escape.

She runs.


	13. Chapter 13

Her body reacts before her mind does and Diamond is running out the Cistern, blaring through the Flagon, into the dark Ratway. Moisture from the sodden stone soaks the soles of her boots and she's aware of the different lefts and rights, but she doesn't stop. Where? Where to go?

_Anywhere but here_.

Diamond makes it out of Riften, bursts through the front gates and her feet guide her all the way to Shor's Stone; a small village in eastern Skyrim near the Velothi Mountains. It is a community of miners led by a local blacksmith, Filnjar, in the northeastern portion of The Rift.

The next thing she knows, she's on her hands and knees in the deep recesses of Redbelly Mine. Faint shafts of moonlight come in through the shafts high above her head. Diamond is cold and wet and winded, but her escape has done little to subdue the hysteria rising up inside her. It will drown her unless it's released. She balls up her shrouded glove, stuffs it in her mouth, and begins to scream. How long she continues, she doesn't know. But by the time she's done, her voice is almost gone.

She curls up on her side and stares at the swells of land filled with ebony ores just waiting to be mined.

Libby is dead.

_Dead_.

They'll never go on missions together again, she'll never be there to catch Diamond's tears when they fall, she won't be there to comfort and listen to Diamond whenever she feels alone or underappreciated.

The truth is too harsh to touch, and Diamond shies away from it before it sears itself into her brain and becomes real.

_If I can't feel, I'm not alive, I'm not real_.

There's some kind of sheeting, a tarp used for the miners to place the ore on. She pulls it over her like a blanket. The night has given the crickets the stage for performance, and they click and chime. The sheeting is stiff, but it holds warmth. Her muscles relax, her heart rate slows.

She finds a quiet place within herself where the Guild or Brotherhood don't exist, and her best friend is still intact. Maybe if she tries hard enough, she can leave her broken world behind. The harsh kneeing inside Diamond's head becomes muted – the grief of some other girl. Not hers. Diamond rocks, holding herself as she'll fly into a million pieces if she lets go.

The memory of Libby, holding Diamond in an embrace and kissing the crown of her head is more than Diamond can bear.

They're last embrace, and Diamond spent it focusing on Mercers' words, and leaving Libby to worry about her.

Fresh tears fill Diamond's eyes, causing the room to swim. She blinks and they fall searing the skin of her already raw cheeks. Shutting her eyes tight, Diamond wills the tide of despair welling up within her to subside. A sob rises from the depths, but she catches it before it could escape. She swallows hard, forcing it down.

It feels like drowning.

Grief is a yawning pit of darkness blooming at Diamond's core. She can hardly stand beneath its weight.

_I can't bear this. I can't_.

The piercing pain of loss is a double-edged blade Diamond can't bear to touch. How can she grieve for her? Cry for her? Bleed for her inside when it won't change anything? It won't change anything.

She's gone.

She's _gone_.

All the words Diamond never found time to say. All the things they never found time to do. Ripped from her with merciless finality. Gone. Deep inside, Diamond can hear the anguished wailing – the wordless kneeing of unbearable grief. She can't stand to hear it. To feel it. To let it live.

She wants to die too. Just stop breathing and hope she finds her on the other side.

A yawning pit of darkness within her opens wide, whispering promises to take the pain. Swallow the loss. Make it possible to draw a breath without choking on the shattered pieces no one will ever fix.

Loss is a gaping hole with jagged teeth, and she can't bear it. The hope that blazed within her floats like ash into the darkness. The wall of grief inside her slowly subsides into a well of icy silence – deafening and absolute. It rips Diamond in two, cutting her off from everything she can't stand to face. Diamond doesn't try to stop it. If she feels the loss, it will break her.

Diamond stays curled up like this, huddled into herself for an unknown amount of time. There are moments when she shivers, but she still doesn't move. Voices float above her as she lies on the cold, unyielding ground. She imagines sinking beneath it. Letting it take her under.

Finding peace.

_I should've been there_, she thinks. _I _should_ have gone_.

Would it have made a difference? Mercer's words infiltrate her mind and torment her.

"_She's just a child. She's inexperienced_!" Diamond clamps her hand over her ears, but Mercer's words still ring loud. "_That last thing I need is some_ kid, _blundering around the tomb_!"

"I'm not a kid. I'm strong." Diamond mumbles to herself. She was stronger than this, knows she is, knew she had to be. But now, her voice lacks its confidence and assurance she's known to have.

Diamond curls tighter into herself, her arms binding around her middle and squeezing as a sort of embrace, but it's not the same. What is she to do? The only other person in this entire world that cared about her, is gone. Diamond would always go to Libby for her problems, she remembers telling Niruin how Libby . . . was, all she had to talk to. Libby would help her grief. Help her cope.

What is she to do now?

She has no one.

The Guild will probably open up to her, but it'll be out of pity; not as genuine as what Diamond had with Libby.

She needs to go back. She still needs to deliver the amulet to Delvin, but she can't bring herself to move. Her muscles locked in an iron grip; clutched against the cold. If a pack of Frostbite Spiders were to appear at this moment, the odds of killing everyone without getting poisoned are not in her favor. She should get up, move around, and work the stiffness from her limbs. But instead, she sits as motionless as the quarries beneath her.

Only when dawn begins to lighten through the crevices of the mine does Diamond need to leave. The miners will be coming soon. She needs to leave. She can't fight the sun, and it persists in rising.

Diamond slides the tarp off, and makes herself stand. All her joint complain, and her legs have been asleep for so long that it takes several minutes of pacing to bring the feeling back. There must have been a time when she fell asleep, because she feels different than before.

Not better, just hollow.

The icy silence has swallowed everything, leaving her numb. Guess a fire that burns so bright is not meant to last. A heart made of stone; callus and bone.

Diamond makes it out of the mine, and onto the main road just as the first miner leaves his house. He seems about to greet Diamond, but it must've been a look on her face or just her body language, because his smiles fades instantly and he watches as Diamond saunters through the town. She can't go back to the Sanctuary, but she doesn't want to go to the Guild, not even Riften. The place just screams about Libby, but she needs to see Delvin; sell the amulet, then she can return to the Sanctuary, and complete her new job. Perhaps it'll even be good for her; keep her mind off . . . things.

Diamond makes her way through the town, and when she gets to the mausoleum, somehow, the entrance this time is open. She had meant to enter through the Ratway, but it's out of habit.

Climbing down the ladder, Diamond finds the Guild at its usual. Members are scattered around; shooting arrows, sharpening weapons. It would be the same as always, if it weren't for the unnerving feeling of dread and sorrow that thickens the air in the Cistern. The members move different, slower, their faces are blank, placid, and no one is talking. Rune, who was by the food cabinets when Diamond enters, looks to her and opens his mouth, but quickly shuts it.

What can he say? It can't change things, Diamond doesn't even think it can make things better. Diamond is bleeding inside where no one will see. Where no one will ever know to look.

She's about to pass him when she feels his callus hand brush her fingers. Diamond looks to him, and he keeps his gaze to her as his hand intertwines their fingers; but Diamond can't feel it. Diamond doesn't retract. Rune gives her hand a reassuring squeeze, as if to let her know she's not alone.

He's wrong.

Diamond has never felt more alone.

He can keep his sympathy. His quiet understanding.

Diamond doesn't want it.

She doesn't need it.

She waits until he lets go before walking away, but she doesn't make it far when Cynric walks up to her carefully. Diamond feels a spark of rage in her chest. If everyone was going to offer their sympathy, Diamond might as well leave Riften now. She hates it when people feel bad for her.

He doesn't say anything. Diamond can feel a small faint flutter in her chest, but the silence takes it from her. It's already gone. Slipping into the emptiness before she can grasp it, and leaving her numb.

He takes her hand and she lets him lead her into the training room, where Diamond last talked with Niruin. Cynric leads her to a small table in the back corner of the room and Diamond sits without him needing to tell her. He leaves, and then comes back with two tankards with steam billowing up out from them.

"Here you go." He says. He hands Diamond the steaming tankard and it smells like peppermint. Diamond holds it with both hands, her fingers prickling with warmth.

Cynric sits down across from her. Somehow having him here, quietly present and without offering judgment, makes the ragged edges in Diamond settle just a bit. Libby would be proud.

"Drink it," he says. "It will make you feel better, I promise."

"I don't think mead is the solution" Diamond says slowly. Her voice sounds distant, as if it's been a while since she's used it. But she sips it anyway. It warms her mouth and her throat and trickles into her stomach. She didn't realize how deeply cold she was until she wasn't.

"'Better' is the word I used. Not 'good.'" He smiles at Diamond, but the corners of his eyes don't crinkle like they usually do. "I don't think 'good' will happen for a while."

Diamond stays quiet. She clasps the tankard between her wrists as the warmth leeches into the air.

"I had a lover, you know." Cynric suddenly says. Diamond snaps her head up in surprise. "She was a beautiful thing. Met her while I was on a job for a client. She was imprisoned for a murder she was framed for. I swore it was love at first sight."

Diamond takes another sip, keeping quiet as Cynric tells her this random story; knowing surely there must be a reason behind it.

"When I broke her out, we spent a lot of time together, only to have me find out she was engaged." He continues. "She gladly left him for me, but he wasn't too happy about it. I came home one evening and found my brother, in a pool of his own blood; the dagger still impaled in his chest."

Diamond chokes on the tea and coughs a few times. She didn't know Cynric had family; let alone a brother. "Pleasant." She croaks.

"I spent years tracking the bastard down, but he was powerful man, with friends in high places. But I wasn't going to let that stop me." Cynric says. "I went into jailbreaking to raise enough money to have him assassinated, but that was when I got caught and imprisoned in High Rock. And then you know the rest."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I want you to know that I get what you're going through."

"I don't need your pity."

"But you need someone to talk to. To understand and to listen."

Cynric's words find their mark.

Diamond bites her lip. "How long . . ." she struggles for the right words. "How long did it take for you to be okay again, after your brother . . .?"

"Don't know." He shakes his head. "Some days I feel like I'm still not okay. Some days I feel fine. Happy, even. It took me a few years to stop plotting revenge, though."

"Why did you stop?"

His eyes go vacant as he stares at the wall behind Dia. He taps his fingers against his leg for a few seconds and then says, "I don't think of it as stopping. More like I'm . . . waiting for my opportunity."

"And is there some kind of underlining message I'm supposed to get here? Because, I don't want revenge. At least I don't think so, not yet." says Diamond.

"I just want you to have a comprehension of pain." says Cynric.

"And that would be?"

"The way I see it, healing from pain is like getting over a fear. You don't really get over your fear, it just has less of a grip on you. With pain, and even loss, you don't ever fully heal; but rather the pain is what you make it. It can make you stronger, or it can break you. The choice is yours." Cynric explains.

Diamond looks back down to her tea, halfway empty, and crowing cold. Diamond likes cold tea better. "I don't know what to do."

"Have you ever experienced loss?" Cynric asks.

Diamond shrugs. "Never really knew my parents, and didn't care enough to find out. I'm an assassin for the Dark Brotherhood. I kill people, and I'm happy about it. I'm not supposed to feel any emotions."

"You're too tough to need help."

"Whatever, maybe." When Diamond lifts her hands from her tankard, she realizes that she's shaking. Not good. Her hands usually shake before she starts to cry, and she can't cry in front of Cynric.

"Or maybe too tough to admit you need help." says Cynric. "I understand. You're an assassin. You're not supposed to have feelings of sadness or vulnerability . . ."

Diamond springs from her seat, slapping her tankard on the table. "You don't know what I feel!" she snaps. Diamond goes to leave the room.

"Diamond!" Cynric calls.

"Just leave me alone!" she yells. Cynric stands up after her and grabs her wrist before she could head for the door. "Let go of me!"

"Diamond, you don't have to be like this." Cynric says in a stern, quiet tone. "It's _not_ your fault. And burying your emotions of guilt won't make it go away."

"I know that!" Diamond stops trying to wrench her wrist free.

"But still you keep your emotions bottled up. Diamond, it's not a sign of weakness to open up to your friends."

"Except the _one_ friend I ever did open up to, is now dead! There is literally no one else in all of Skyrim that I trust!" Diamond screams.

Her eyes water and her nose congests. She stifles a sob, but it escapes her lips. Still, she speaks through.

"The Brotherhood doesn't even accept me as a true member! I'm just the new kid who won't make it past the apprentice phase. I barely remember my old family, and my new one doesn't even like me."

She sniffles.

"And now, the one person who was always there for me and who always treated me as an equal, is gone! And it's all my fault!" Diamond wails, and Cynric doesn't quiet her down. He merely pulls her in to his chest. Diamond presses her forehead to his shoulder, bawling.

"It's not your fault."

"I should've gone with her." Diamond weeps. "I feel like it's my fault."

Cynric presses his hand to Diamond's cheek, and she turns her face into it, keeping her eyes closed. "I know, but it's not. It's not." He says, keeping one arm wrapped around Diamond's torso, a hand at her cheek.

"I could've saved her." She whimpers.

"Maybe. Maybe there's more we all could have done," he says. "but we just have to let the guilt remind us to do better next time." His voice tightens, and Diamond can feel him swallow. He must be fighting back as well.

Perhaps Cynric has a point. Guilt as a tool, rather than a weapon against the self. But how does that stop it from eating you alive?

"How do I get past it? How do I live with myself? If I had gone, do you think she would be alive now?" Diamond asks, inhaling a shuddering breath.

She feels Cynric touch his lips to her crown. It doesn't feel the same, but offers some comfort. "I don't know; and I don't have any easy answers, Diamond. But one thing's clear, admitting it, is the first step."

Diamond looks to him, and Cynric touches his lips to her forehead, right between her eyebrows. She closes her eyes. She doesn't understand this, whatever it is. But she doesn't want to ruin it, so she says nothing. Cynric smells distinct – sweet and fresh, like sage and lemongrass. He doesn't move; he just stays there with his mouth pressed to her skin, and Diamond stays there with her arms wrapped around his strong torso, for a long time.

The icy silence cracks within her, and she feels something like comfort float out of it, and she grabs it with desperate fingers.

Her talk with Cynric has certainly lifted a small amount of weight off her shoulders, but Diamond knows better than to think she's better. She thought being in the Guild would be unbearable, when really, it's all the tangible connections she has back to Libby. She would spend all her time down here, memorizing the entire façade like the back of her hand, training, and mingling with the other members.

As Diamond enters back out into the Cistern, it's around noon judging from the position of the sun's light. Diamond's eyes glance around the Guild and the members all seem to walk around with the same placid look on their faces; shielding their grief. No one other than Cynric have talked to her, and Diamond feels, at peace. Opening up was something she only did with Libby, to do ti with someone would seem, wrong.

Diamond wanders over to Libby's bed and sits down at the edge. Most of the members are sleeping, now. So Diamond leans down to her side, and matches her inhales to the inhales of the other members, and her exhales to their exhales. It doesn't matter.

It only brings up the scent of Libby's bed. It still smells like her. A mixture of salt water and lavender. It wafts upwards, and it fills Diamond's nose, fills her entire head with Libby. Diamond clenches her hands so hard into fists that her fingernails dig crescent shapes into her palms. She lets the scent of Libby numb her insides, allows it to help her forget all the trouble, and give her a clear head.

Diamond doesn't know how long it takes for her to realize that she is gone. But when it does she feels all the strength go out of her, and she curls into a ball, tucking her knees to her chest and she thinks she cries again, or at least she wants to, and everything inside of her screams for just one more hug, one more word, one more glance, one more.

Diamond gathers the pillow around her ears to block out the noises of the Cistern, and falls asleep with a circle of moisture pressed to her cheek.

* * *

It was four years ago during the spring season when Libby and Diamond first met in Rorikstead.

It is the farthest settlement from Whiterun along the western border near The Reach. The settlement consists of two cottages, an inn, and a manor.

Diamond was on a mission to assassinate a shop keeper, Libby was given a job to steal some valuable. Little did both girls know that their jobs were for the same merchant.

Libby was fifteen years of age, Diamond twelve; both just starting to get used to the routine and methods of their factions.

This was Libby's first burglary job given by Vex to break into a home and steal a golden bejeweled dragonfly. She was too cautious with keeping to the shadows, and she constantly looked over her shoulder to see if she was being perused, or observed by Vex. Diamond had been struggling along in earning the respect of the other members of the Brotherhood for a few months before Astrid gave her a first job.

It was on a Sundas of the Last Seed, the air cool and perfumed by the scent of the smoke from the blacksmith. Libby arrived just as night was beginning to settle over the hold. She had dressed in a belted tunic, but kept her steel dagger – given to her by Brynjolf – strapped across her right thigh, and her iron sword on her left. She wasn't supposed to kill, but if it were to come to that, her payment was forfeit.

Once a guard finished patrolling by her, she had a total of thirty seconds before another one would come. She had hidden a satchel in the early hours, packed with her Guild Armor and extra lockpicks and a Potion of Invisibility. She dressed in less than a minute, and tucked away her hair. At the time she had kept it down and in her hood.

Diamond was assigned a merchant that was the ex-lover of the client, and it was said he deserved to die because he was caught cheating. It was one of the reasons why Diamond didn't want to fall in love; and she didn't think most of the men in Skyrim were attractive. She slinks along one wall behind the houses, keeping a tight grip on her dagger, and making sure it doesn't reflect off the moonlight.

Having spent too much time timing and calculating the position of the guards, Libby hurried off to the home of the said merchant and rounds to the back door. She had already surpassed the Novice level of lockpicking, so the lock wasn't a challenge. She heard the click and snuck inside.

She had walked right into the kitchen, a pot of stew brewing over the fire, shelves filled with cheese rolls, raw meat and fruits and veggies. Libby pressed close to one wall, listening for footsteps. She heard one pair going up the steps to the upper level, and she swore. If her thinking was right, normally a person would keep their valuable close to them. As in, in a bedroom. And in this house, the entire first floor was just for the shop, all personal home editions are upstairs.

Libby sighed and took a deep silent breath. She crept out of her hiding place and rounds up to the stairs. Still no sign of anyone else, and the footsteps have gone quiet. He must've gone to bed. Libby crept up the stairs and stays in toggle crouch as she approaches the bedroom.

Diamond stayed behind the houses, keeping an eye on the guards as she approached the house. When she went up to the door, she merely placed her hand on it before it swung open. She nearly fell but caught herself on the frame.

"What the . . .?" she whispered.

That was red alarm number one. If the back door was unlocked, either someone else was inside, or the contract was expecting her. Without fear, Diamond perused further, but with caution.

Libby opens the door to the bedroom, and both the merchant was asleep in bed. In the bedroom, there was a table along one wall next to a bookshelf, and a door leading further back into a study with a table and another bookshelf. Libby finds the dragonfly on the bookshelf by the desk, and carefully picks it up by the tail.

She then heard the sling of metal. The sound it made as it cleared its sheath made Libby shiver. She whirled to find the merchant had awoken and had drawn a steel sword. He stood over Libby, who was frozen as the gleam of the blade seemed to have blinded her, even with the limited light.

"Well what do we have here?" he taunted. "A little cockroach. Now you must be lost, little girl."

Libby didn't say anything, but the way he provoked her initiated a snarl to crawl across Libby's lips. Without speaking a word she glared at him, her hand reaching the corner of her back pocket. Her fingers shaking with anticipation. She ordered herself to wait for the right moment, when he was closer.

She focused on the mechanics of her breathing, imagining air filing every part of her lungs as he inhaled, then remembering as she exhaled how all her blood, oxygenated and unoxygenated, traveled to and from the same heart. Air in, air out. Blood pushed all the way to her extremities – the heart is a powerful muscle, the strongest muscle in the body in terms of longevity.

Libby didn't really want to kill him, at least not with a knife, up close where she could see the life leave him. Killing was one of the reasons she joined the Guild. It was forbidden unless given permission.

The man leans closer, and Libby can see a two bottles of skooma on his bedside table, empty.

"You are pretty young too. Young, and beautiful." He slurred, moving closer still; words slurring. All the murkiness of the skooma gleamed in his empty eyes. "Just beginning to develop the contours of a woman."

Libby pulls out her sword, knocking aside his blade and whirling to slash his side. But the man blocked her, and shoved her off harshly. Libby's back slammed against the bookshelf, and when she slides down, she grabs the dragonfly, tucking it away in her uniform.

The man raised his blade, and Libby spun out of the way, grabbed his wrist and went for a punch. The man caught her hand with his own; it swallowed Libby's, and throws her over him through the door, near the stairs. Libby recovered by somersaulting backwards, the balls of her feet sliding along the wood, stopped just at the edge. She felt a throbbing at the back of her head.

For a drunkard he was still strong and aware.

Libby spun the blade of her sword out. The man charged forward and as he went to swing, Libby stepped to the side, grabbed his wrist and flipped him over. His back crashed into the floor, the sword skittered out of his hand. Libby kicked it hard in the side – feeing the air leave his lungs, then back flipped back. The man rose and readied his fists. Now hand-to-hand combat was something Libby was good at. She sheathed her sword and took a fighting stance.

The man charged again, and Libby front flipped over him, dodging his fists as they swung back, and then kicking his feet out. His back slams into the floor again.

"And here you thought I was just a pretty face." Libby taunts.

The merchant then pushed up and charged forward again. And when Libby dodged, he was ready. He punched her right in the jaw, then again higher on her cheek. It sent her back, slamming into the wall, and crumpling to the ground, just at the top of the stairs.

Diamond closed the door silently behind her as she snuck through the kitchen. "Okay, where are you?" she whispered.

She snuck through the main floor of the shop, to the upstairs; when suddenly a huge crash startled her. Diamond jumped back several feet as a girl crumples to the floor.

_What the hell_?!

The girl was in light leathered armor, a hood concealing her face; but Diamond could still see streams of blood on her cheekbones. A man, her contract approaches with his knuckles bloody. Diamond settled back behind the counter. She watched as he kicked the girl in her side, and she tumbled down the steps.

Following her momentum, Libby rolled, then pushed off her hands and landed on a crate. She blinked a few times to rid her vision of black spots, and felt another strike to her jaw. She tumbled into a pile of sacks, barely cushioning the blow.

She sees the man go for another punch, but she stopped his hand and shoved him off with her feet. She rolled back on her hands and pushed off, landing on the floor a few feet back, a little wobbly as the room was settling. Diamond stands in amazement. She seemed quiet agile and nimble.

"Not bad for a little girl." the merchant provoked, wiping his jaw. He now had a cut on his upper lip, small drops of blood leaking out.

Libby readies again, and Diamond was dumbfounded as to why she didn't just pull out a weapon. She could not have been enjoying it. Libby's head turned and she spotted Diamond.

In unison, both girls' hearts skipped a beat.

Libby's distraction cost her and she just missed the fist of the man. It scraped her ear throwing her off balance. She jerked to the side and kicked him in the stomach, then raising her elbow and driving it between his shoulder blades, then as he's stunned, she loops her arms beneath his armpits in a headlock.

She thought she had him, but she felt him shift and leap back, and Libby's spine slams into the floor. A crackling pain spread its way up her spine like a fissure. Within the minute she held the man still, she glanced to Diamond who did nothing but watch.

He headbuts her, and Libby lets go; the pain in her jaw and nose making her eyes fill with tears. When he stands, Libby scrambles back. Blood trickles from her nose now. She swallows it, ignoring the coppery taste.

Diamond had half the mind to stop them, but at the time, she figured it would've been better to have him kill the girl, then she kills him. If word got out that there were two people dead, Diamond might earn favor of Astrid.

Libby shifts to the leg with the knife is on the floor, and pretended to act cowardly, pity, pathetic.

"You know, I might be willing to overlook this. If you were to do something, special for me." He said. Libby could feel her limbs grow cold. "You know I used to be an adventurer, I explored a lot of . . . areas."

He reaches out a hand.

Libby closed her hand around the knife handle and squeezed.

She lurched forward, pulling her hand out. She closed her eyes as she thrust the blade upward towards the man. She didn't want to see his blood. She felt the knife go in and the pulled it out again. The man chokes and slumps to the ground, then silence.

Diamond instantly springs up from her spot. "Hey!"

Libby looked to her and glared. Diamond had half the mind to step back; afraid the challenge the girl who just killed her client. But that was the problem; she killed Diamond's client.

Diamond was about to open her mouth again when she felt a stab to her jaw. The pain crackles along the inside of her skull and she tumbles back into a chair. The girl had struck her. Diamond rubs her jaw and shakes her head, then hears the back doors shut. She forces herself to stand and barrel after her.

Outside, the girl had practically vanished. "What the hell?!" Diamond hissed.

Libby quickly kept to the shadows as she ran to the north end of town. Even though no guards had heard the commotion, she needed to get away from that girl if she were to escape with the item at least. The thought of the man lying in his own pool of blood made Libby want to gag. Her first mission and she mucked it up. There would be no excuse now; they'd never give her another job. Rather than feeling like screaming from the man, Libby wanted to cry at the thought of not getting to help out the Guild now. Forever stuck being treated as a child.

She continued to sprint down the road, her arms pumping at her sides. She watched her breathing carefully as she turns back to the town. No one was in pursuit, but she knew better than to let her guard down.

Suddenly there was a shout. "Hey!"

Before she even had a chance to look back, Libby was tackled and rolled along the ground with another body before being pinned on her back. Libby blinked her eyes open and finds the girl from the shop. Her sandy hair had tips of pink on the end. Her blue eyes were swimming with rage, but if it weren't for the fact that she had merely watched Libby fight, Libby would've been scared. Her armor was that of the Dark Brotherhood; that much she knew, but she wasn't at all scared by the girl.

If she had merely stood by while watching Libby fight, she either isn't good at fighting, or she was waiting for the right moment to strike. Either way, Libby wasn't afraid of her.

"You killed my contract, bitch!" the girl snarled. "That was _my_ case!"

Libby's fingers gathered a handful of dirt carefully as she spoke. "What's the big deal? He's dead anyway; you can just say you did it."

"What does it matter?!" Diamond snarled.

"Oh, and thanks for the help!" Libby bitched.

Without waiting for the girl to counter, she threw the dirt in her face and punched her in the jaw. Within a blink, Diamond felt a fist smash her temple, followed by a swift kick to her groin. As she staggered to one knee, there was another punch to her nose.

Diamond took the girl's wrist and kicked her legs out from under her. Libby sent her fist flying to Diamond and landed it into her jaw. Diamond caught Libby's wrist before Libby could pull her fist back. But Diamond was not prepared for the sudden maneuver the girl made. Her fingers wrapped around Diamond's own wrist, Libby's body twisted, and then Diamond was down on both knees, wincing as the bones of her arm protested in pain.

Any delusions Diamond had of this chick being a normal girl vanished with her muffled shriek of pain. Diamond's fingernails dug into Libby's skin, but Libby didn't seem to care. Face-to-face they stared, and Diamond could see that with her well-controlled moves, her eyes are full of amusement. Libby let go of Diamond's wrist and tried to kick her in the chest. Diamond ducked under the kick, spun around Libby, and then jabs Libby's throat with her elbow. When Libby collapsed, she rolls her body, avoiding the next two blows from Diamond's foot. Libby caught Diamond's heel on her third kick and then shoved it upward. Diamond somersaulted with the push, snapping Libby's chin with her feet, drew two daggers from her belt, and hurled them across the room.

They stabbed into the ground barely an inch to either side of Libby's feet. Libby backflipped, still with no weapon in hand.

"Why don't you just go home?!" Libby shouted. She drew the blade of her sword. "He's already dead, just say you killed him!"

"It's not the same!" the girl countered. She chucked more daggers to Libby who drew her sword and blocked them all. They ricochet off and stab the ground around her. Diamond goes for more.

"Bet you run out of daggers before I run out of sword." Libby chuckled. "Unless you want to call one of your Brotherhood friends for help, then you might stand a chance."

"How did you . . .?"

"You're armor speaks for itself." Libby cuts her off.

"Then you have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but what about you?" Diamond said.

"Sorry, little girl. Just because I know your secrets, doesn't mean I tell you mine."

Diamond snarled and sheathed her dagger before charging. She ducked under a punch Libby threw, then kicked her in the stomach before leaping back and back flipping on her hands.

"Well then, since you killed my client, I need to settle the score!" Diamond barked.

"What?" Libby felt her pocket and her heart sank when the felt the dragonfly gone. Looking up, Diamond held it in her hand.

"No! Don't you dare!" Libby sneered.

Diamond smiles devilishly and tosses the dragonfly back and forth between her hands; faking to drop it a few times. Then she lets it fall to the ground, where she crushes it beneath her foot.

"No!" Libby shrieked.

"There! Now we're even!" Diamond hollers.

"Are you insane?!" Libby screams. "What's wrong with you?! That bastard had little sense to his name! That was worth 10,000 gold!"

"Oh, so you want to fight now?!" Diamond challenges.

"What?!"

"You want to fight? Let's go!" Diamond repeated.

"Hmph, you don't want to fight me." Libby growled. She fisted her hands so hard from the anger; small crescent shapes impale into her palms. "I could beat you in seconds. I was holding back this time."

Diamond fidgets at the predatory look in Libby's eyes, and she could tell Libby was being truthful. But Diamond draws a blade while Libby takes a stance.

"No weapon?"

"I won't need one to beat _you_." Libby retorts.

Diamond sneers and charges forward raising her blade above her head. Libby steps out of the way, spins and pins Diamond's weapon down with her foot; then twirls and raises up kicking Diamond in the jaw with her other. Diamond stumbles back crashing to the ground. It wasn't even three seconds before she feels the harsh kick in her ribs, then being pulled up by the scruff of her hair and punches her left and right in the face.

Diamond rolls back and adjusts her chin. No doubt she now had deep bruises. But she had to admit, this girl could fight.

"Not bad." Diamond murmurs.

"You should see me when I'm _trying_." Libby pesters with a sly smile.

This starts a viscous burn in Diamond's chest and she barrels forward again. Libby raises her fist and goes for a punch. This time Diamond managed to block with her forearm, but Libby spins down and kicks Diamond's feet out. Her back hits the ground flatly.

Diamond pushes up again and readies her blade, but Libby spins and knocks it aside, then rams her knee into Diamond's diagram. She drops to her knees and Libby doesn't wait to kick her in the head. Diamond still rises to her feet, heaving for breath with a stream of blood dripping at the corner of her mouth.

"You've got guts." Libby compliments.

Before Diamond could reply, Libby's the one who charges this time, and she snatches a few of the daggers Diamond had thrown earlier. She spins the blades out and matches the swing of Diamond's sword; blocking, parrying and thrust. Then she spins the blades in, and pounds the hilt against several pressure points along Diamond's side. Diamond grits her teeth and groans in pain as Libby kicks her feet out again.

As she's about to get up, Diamond feels the pressure of someone on top of her. She looks and finds the girl pinning her down. She spins the daggers between her fingers and presses the tip to Diamond's cheek and the soft skin of her throat. Diamond's heart beats faster.

Libby's face is emotionless, though her eyes show a deep murderous intent. Diamond gulps.

"You know, I could kill you right now." Libby hisses.

She presses the tip harder to Diamond's cheek until a single drop of blood permeates Diamond's skin. Diamond is about to plead, her entire body aching and throbbing, when the girls pulls back, stabbing the daggers on either side of Diamond's head.

"But you're not even worth it."

Libby the got up and turned walking away. Diamond rose to her feet, when suddenly her ear stung. She touched her ear, and blood tickled her skin. She nicked it. And judging from the way she acted, she did it on purpose.

Diamond gazes at her, mouth agape.

She watches the girl's black hair sway side to side. Who was this chick? She practically kicked the ass of a man twice her size, and she didn't show the slightest fear when she realized Diamond was in the Dark Brotherhood. Then she had the chance to kill Diamond and spared her. She was, strange, yet intriguing.

Diamond decided to follow her as she exits Rorikstead. Diamond slinks to the side of the road keeping to the shadows. The girls didn't seem to notice her, and Diamond snickered. She followed the girl for about a half hour before she suddenly stopped. Diamond remained huddled in foliage. They had reached the town of Riverwood.

Suddenly the girl broke into a full sprint and darted off the road. Diamond was stunned for a moment before she sprints after her. _Damn, she's fast_, she thought. She watched as Libby darted through small alleys, cutting back and forth as if to lose a pursuer. Her path remained steadily eastward, regardless of how crooked and curved.

_Where are you taking me_? Diamond wondered.

She climbs a tree to get a view of where the girl is going, but as she reaches a top branch, an arrow sticks to the trunk, inches from her hand. Diamond squeals and falls down, managed to cushion some blows with her reflexes. She hit the ground and groaned. The girl walks up with a bow in hand.

"Knew you were there about a minute after I turned my back." She boasts.

Diamond sits up and brushes blades of grass out of her hair.

"Why are you following me?" the girl demands.

Diamond opens her mouth, then closes it. Why was she following her? She was interesting, but that didn't mean she should endanger herself.

"I don't know." She admits.

The girl rolls her eyes and turns her back, continuing her walking. "You should go home. Back to the Brotherhood." Libby says.

"I would, but I was so busy following you that I don't remember where I am." Diamond retorts

"Don't you have a map?"

"I don't travel a lot. This was my first case. I was lucky to find the town on my own."

The girls sighs and rubs her head. "Well, I can't nor will I help you."

"Come on. You could've killed me, but you didn't. Why?"

"I don't know, maybe because you look so pathetic." Libby sneers.

"Or because you care." Diamond persuades. "Look, even if you don't, I can't find my way back; but you, you seem to know you're way around, enough. Help me out please?"

"Why should I? You didn't help me." Libby reminds.

"You looked like you handled yourself."

"No thanks to you."

"Come on! Please? Look, the sooner you help me, the sooner I'm gone." Diamond persuades. "And I know you want to be rid of me."

The girl looks to her, and glares, but she then sighs. Diamond can see her weighing her options. Finally she sighs. "Fine."

"Yay!" Diamond squeals. "Thank you!"

She goes to hug the girl, but she's stopped. "I'm not much of a hugger, and don't get too attached. Not like we're friends."

"Not yet." Diamond smiles.

"Yeah," the girls coldly snickers. "Like that could happen."

"So . . . what's your name?" Diamond asks as she matched Libby's pace.

The moon begins to nestle on the horizon as the girls walk through Riverwood.

"Yours first."

Diamond rolls her eyes. "Diamond. My name's Diamond."

The girl smiles, and instantly she looks like someone you'd want to be friends with. "Mine's Libby."


	14. Chapter 14

The pain is a constant throb in Libby's head, cheek and ribs. Seconds go by before she can see definite edges in her surroundings, the opening of a tent, the soft feel of fur beneath her, and a chill bite of wind. Libby rolls to her back, and blinks to settle the world. Slowly her vision returns, and her memory. She takes a deep breath to steady her heartbeat; she always rationalized that if she could calm her heart, her feelings of nausea and dizziness usually go away. But as she tries to calm her heartbeat, when she remembers where she last was, it speeds up and Libby scrambles into a seated position, which makes everything worse. She grunts into her teeth and holds her side, then pushes herself forward.

It's near dusk as she crawls to the front of the tent. Pink clouds are bordered with a periwinkle outline against a pale blue backdrop. With her mind still settling, Libby didn't even notice the dark figure in front of her. Libby gasps but is too dazed to even reach for her blade. The wind blows at a campfire settled in front of the tent, and it stirs Libby's hair which she now realizes is down and around her shoulders. The figure slowly approaches, and when Libby steps backwards, she stumbles.

Before she hit the ground, there's a sudden grip on her arm and shoulder, and she's eased back onto the bed roll.

"Easy, easy. Don't get up so quickly." A soft feminine voice speaks. Libby's heart jars in her chest. "How are you feeling?"

Libby relaxes. "Sore. Never thought the poison would be that powerful."

"Took me almost a year to perfect." Karliah says. She helps Libby be seated and hands her a cup of tea from a kettle brewing over the fire.

Libby accepts it gratefully and takes timid sips. Karliah skewers a salmon and sets it across the fire; rotating it quietly as the wind and crackle of the fire fight for dominance of whose noise reigns supreme. With her cup half empty, Libby clasps it between her wrists. She flicks her eyes and out of their corner she sees Karliah with a placid look on her face. Still Libby could spot someone's tell, and she can barely pick out pieces of guilt and sorrow.

"I take it our rouse was successful?" Libby asks.

"Almost too successful. Your friend and the Guild are in mourning. And they may never forgive us." Karliah answers. "I haven't seen them this depressed since Gallus."

Libby lets out a cold laugh. "Didn't know I was so loved. Could've fooled me."

"Are you okay?"

Libby's silent. "She'll never forgive me."

Karliah's quiet, keeping her gaze on Libby while simultaneously rotating the fish on its spit over the fire.

"Uh, this is where you say, "I'm sure she will." Libby says.

"You know her better than I do, Libby. And besides, that would've been a plain lie. And despite my larceny past, I prefer not to lie to my friends."

"At least _try_ to make me feel better." Libby snaps.

Karliah remains quiet, offering no judgment, only a simple hand on Libby's shoulder. Libby tenses for a minute before relaxing at her grip. Libby takes another sip of water and exhales heavily; her breath puffing out in front of her and dissipating in a second.

"So what's next?" Libby asks, placing her tankard in the snow.

"Mercer must be brought before the Guild to answer for what he's done. He needs to pay for Gallus's murder." Karliah hisses through her teeth, as if the very mention of the memory boils her with anger; which is now understandable.

Libby aches, inside and out, and nothing seems simply anymore. Nothing seems right. But her warmth was long lost before this. It would seem now nothing soft and conciliatory lives inside her anymore. A hard kernel of anger takes root and burrows in. Builds anger inside her, replacing her blood with bitter water and filling her, consuming her. She wants to hit something, but there still throbbing muscles forbid so. Libby is into too much pain to do anything, so instead, she begins to cry. She instantly wipes her tears with the heels of her hand, before they're halfway down her cheeks.

"How will you prove it to them?" Libby asks.

"My purpose for using Snow Veil Sanctum to ambush Mercer wasn't simply for irony's sake. Before both of you arrived, I recovered a journal from Gallus's remains. I suspect the information we need is written inside." Karliah explains.

"Well, what's it say?" Libby encourages. She inches closer to Karliah.

"I wish I knew. The journal is written in some sort of language I've never seen before." Karliah says.

Libby slumps lower into the bed roll and tries to think through her options. A language that has never been seen before, someone could read it, someone smart. In a collage. The College of Winterhold.

"Perhaps, it could be translated?" Libby suggests, springing to prop on her elbows.

"Enthir . . ." Karliah breathes. Her eyes widen. "Gallus's friend at the College of Winterhold. Of course . . ."

"Who?"

"He's the only outsider Gallus trusted with the knowledge of his Nightingale identity."

Libby's head snaps up. "You still need to tell me about them." She reminds. "About the Nightingales. All I know is that Dad was one."

Karliah can't help but giggle. "Hearing you call him dad, it's strange. I never thought Gallus would be a father, but that man was full of surprises."

"You would've been a cool mom." Libby says, earning her a surprised look from Karliah. "Seriously. You both were the best, according to Mercer. If you had gotten married, I would've been a prodigy."

Karliah smiles. "Libby, you still are a prodigy. And I promise I'll explain to you more about the nightingales soon. But we need to stay focused. Right now, you need to head for Winterhold with the journal and get the translation. And take these as well, they may prove useful for your journey."

"Can't you come with me to Winterhold?" Libby asks.

"I'm afraid not. There are preparations to make and Gallus's remains to lay to rest." Karliah answers. "I promise to join you there as soon as I can."

Karliah hands Libby two different powerful poisons and Gallus's journal.

Libby looks to the journal, running her thumb over the cover. "Can I ask . . ." Libby starts. She peeks over Karliah's shoulder and finds the other bed roll in the snow.

_Did she really sleep out in the cold_?

"Yes?"

Libby bites her lip. "Can you tell me, about Gallus?"

The questions seem to bring a painful smile to Karliah's face. "He was a scholar, a master thief and a natural born leader. Everyone respected him and followed him without question." She explains. "It was Gallus who inducted me into the Nightingales and honed my skills to a razor sharp point."

She pauses. Her smile fades and a small tremor works through her lips.

"I owe everything to him." she croaks. Karliah looks down and around her feet before she raises her head.

"Can't wait to see how Diamond will react." Libby says sarcastically.

"We will reveal you to her in due time."

"How long will that be? I can't just leave her to, suffer, thinking I'm dead. I need to tell her." Libby counters, beginning to walk.

Karliah stops her by stepping in front of her. "You go the Guild, and everything Gallus worked hard for will be ruined. We need to be patient."

Libby pauses and looks around fidgeting with her options. "Look Karliah, I understand where you're coming form, I really do. But you don't know Diamond. I'm afraid for her. You of all people should understand how she must feel."

"I do. But risk exposure and Mercer will be long gone before we can even prove to the Guild of his crimes." Karliah explains. "We need to have him think your dead, for the better part of our plan. I'm sorry Libby, but you have to understand that."

Libby sighs and nods, and goes to sit back down. Mercer. That bastard! She doesn't want Mercer alive. He doesn't deserve it. He lied to Libby, and the Guild; about Karliah, and about himself. He deserves to die. It might've been too late for Libby to protect herself, but it's not too late to get vengeance.

"Mercer is _mine_." Libby growls.

"You will have your vengeance, but only after we have the Guild at our backs." Karliah reminds the assurance in her voice calms Libby slightly. "Mercer doesn't need to die . . . he needs to feel the cold sting of fate as his life crumbles in front of him and he's hunted by the Guild."

"Might not have a choice next time." Libby says.

"I can promise you if it comes to that, and my back is to the wall, I won't hesitate." Karliah growls, and judging from the look in her eyes, Libby could tell she was telling the truth.

Libby sighs and begins to stand. But Karliah steadies a hand on her shoulder. "Of course, you could just rest for a few more minutes, if you don't feel as strong. My apologies."

"The more we stall, the more Mercer lies to the Guild." Libby says. "Plus, the sooner we're done, the sooner I can see Diamond again. Plus maybe moving around may help."

Still Karliah recommends Libby walk around the camp for a few minutes to assure she can steady herself. "Remember, speak only to Enthir. Trust no one else." Karliah says.

Libby nods and goes over to her horse; for some reason Mercer didn't kill or steal it. Karliah gives Libby the description of Enthir – a Bosmer sorcerer and merchant found at The College of Winterhold, and has connections to the Thieves Guild in Skyrim. She mounts and snaps the reins and they ride off to the college. From Snow Veil Sanctum, it's a straight shot northwest to the college and Winterhold. She thunders through the snow and along the road until she reaches Whistling Mine. She trots up to the outskirts of the town, then dismounts.

Winterhold is a former major city which is located in northern Skyrim. It is the capital city of the hold of the same name. Once a great capital rivaling Solitude in power and importance, Winterhold is now little more than a shell of its former self due to The Great Collapse.

Libby pulls her hood over her head as she enters the Frozen Hearth, the only inn in the hold. The inside mimics that of every other inn in Skyrim. A hugs fireplace at the center of the room with longtables along the walls, and chairs in a small circle to watch whatever bard be available. Libby glances around and finds no Bosmer around. She checks the rooms, not worried about looking suspicious since she is really looking for someone. She finds Enthir in his room with a tankard in hand, and a book on Ice Spikes on the table next to him. Libby enters and approaches.

"Excuse me," she quietly speaks.

"Yes, yes. What is it?" he speaks impatiently.

Libby leans close and whispers. "I've been sent by Karliah."

Enthir's eyes immediately widen. "Karliah? Then she's finally found it. And you must be Libby. Gallus's daughter." He motions Libby to sit in the other available chair, Libby does.

"H-how did you know who I was?"

Enthir chuckles. "You're the spitting image of Gallus. You have similar features, a certain spark in your eye. Never thought I'd see it again. But enough about that, do you have Gallus's journal?"

"Yes, but there's a problem." Libby says as she pulls out the journal.

"A problem? Let me see it." says Enthir. Libby opens the journal and places it on the table, sliding it towards Enthir. He chuckles. "This is just like Gallus. A dear friend, but always too clever for his own good. He's written all of the text in the Falmer language."

The Falmer are the degenerate offspring of an endangered species of elves, Snow Elves, who dwell in the ancient Dwemer ruins hewn from Skyrim's expansive subterranean caverns. Although blind, their senses of hearing, smell and touch are attuned far beyond those of most other races. The Falmer have a distinctly otherworldly appearance. Their infrequent exposure to sunlight has left their skin a pale shade of gray, like that of the rocks in the caverns where they live. Therefore, they burn easily and emerge only at night. Also, their hides are wrinkled and scarred. They are nearly eyeless and totally blind.

The Falmer were not always the hideous, pale-skinned demons that reside in ancient Dwemer ruins. They were once members of an even more ancient and powerful race known as the Snow Elves, beings of grace with wisdom beyond that of even the High and Wood Elves. That is until they lost a war with the Nords, forcing them to live underground with the Dwemer, who blinded and enslaved them. Centuries of life underground have caused the Falmer to adapt to their harsh environment. While physically similar to other Mer, the Falmer have changed noticeably. Their skin is a pale grayish tone and they move with a hunched posture.

Their most notable feature is their blindness; a layer of pinkish skin covers the vestigial eyes. However, their other senses have become extremely sensitive as a result. Unwary adventurers learn quickly that the Falmers' blindness is no handicap in combat or crafting.

"Can you translate it?" Libby asks.

"No," Enthir sighs. "But I know someone who might. The court wizard of Markarth, Calcelmo, may have the materials you need to get this journal translated."

Libby nods as Enthir slides the journal back over to her.

As she tucks it away, he speaks. "A word of warning. Calcelmo is a fierce guardian of his research. Getting the information won't be easy."

"So, why _did_ Dad scribe his journal in Falmer?" Libby asks.

Enthir chuckles. "Besides the fact that there are only a handful of people in Tamriel that even recognize the language? I'm fairly certain he was planning some sort of a heist that involved a deep understanding of the Falmer language. Sadly, we never had the opportunity to speak about the details."

"Where did he acquire the knowledge to use it?"

"Ironically I pointed him in the same direction I pointed you. To Markarth and Calcelmo. I'm only hoping whatever means he used to learn the language will still be available to you." says Enthir.

Libby nods, and fidgets with her fingers.

"Something on your mind?" Enthir asks.

"Is it alright if I ask you to tell me about Gallus? Or, Dad? Karliah says you were the only friend he trusted." Libby quietly speaks.

Enthir smiles and turns to look ahead. His eyes go vacant as he stares at the wall. "He was a dear friend of mine and a surprisingly astute pupil of academia . . . I was devastated when he was killed. And I suppose that risk always coexisted with his line of work, I just never thought his luck would run out."

Libby gives Enthir a confused look. "Wait, he was an academia yet he chose a different path? Why?"

"Well, for the thrill of course." Enthir chuckles. "He was quiet clear that he felt more in his element climbing through a window rather than hunched over a dust old tome."

"So how did you meet him?" Libby smiles.

"Ah yes, quite an amusing anecdote actually. I caught him trying to break into my laboratory." Libby laughs and covers her mouth. "I was about to show him the error of his ways when he made a curiously astute comment about my research notes. I was astounded and in turn it lead to a conversation. Who'd have imagined it would lead to such a strong friendship?"

Libby smiles. "Hmph. I'm actually jealous. You got to spend a lot more time with him than I did."

Enthir places a hand on Libby's knee. "I've known Gallus for years. So I can guarantee, that he would be immensely proud of you, Libitania."

Libby gives him a half smile. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Aw, I thank you. That's very sweet." Enthir smiles. "I don't know why you just don't lead the Guild."

Libby chuckles. "I'm not much of a leader."

"Well you never know. Your potential can stretch father than you think." says Enthir.

Libby smiles and pats the table. "Well, thanks so much Enthir for your help."

"Anytime. Remember, Calcelmo is stubborn as a mule. Be careful when you speak to him. Oh, and one more thing." Enthir says.

He stands and hands Libby a new map much similar to her old one, but this one has a heavenly glow around it. The paper is parchment and when Enthir points to the city of Markarth, the icon glows a pure white.

"This map will allow you to fast travel to any of the locations you've already discovered. And when you discover new places, they'll be added to the map." He explains.

Libby gazes at the paper with large eyes. "That's incredible."

"It also saves you so much leg work. You can us it anytime."

"Thank Enthir." Libby smiles.

"My pleasure."

Libby then takes her leave and exits the inn. She opens her map and points to the Understone Keep, where the Jarl stays and no doubt Calcelmo. The icon glows and the world slowly fades dark. The darkness smudges her surroundings into nothing as the noises become garbled in her ears. Though it grow louder for an instant, closer, the tones themselves began to tremble and shudder. They warble and echo, almost as though she's been plunged far underwater. Through the shrinking wedge of dim light, she could see the logs crackling in the fire. The gap shrunk to a mere slit. The darkness surrounds her, growing thicker, clamoring to take hold of her, like the unlimited tentacles of some formless wraith.

Then as suddenly as they had taken hold, the shadows released her.

Like a thick fog, they receded from Libby, a few clinging wisps slithering over her shoulders and arms.

When she opens her eyes after what felt like minutes, she finds herself at the Keep, the night have been overtaken the sky. If it was duck when she left Karliah and Enthir, the travel was hours. It felt short.

Libby enters the Keep and stumbles into an argument between a priest and a Nord.

"What are you hiding, priest?"

"I'm not hiding anything. It's closed for a reason." He replies.

Libby cautiously walks past them. As much as she'd love to hear the interesting story, she had more important business. She carefully steps over rocks through a small corridor, past a guard, and over to the left where she finds an excavation site and a man in wizard robes at an Alchemy table.

Libby approaches with a polite and shy demeanor as she taps the man's shoulder. "Excuse me,"

"What are you doing here?" Calcelmo snaps. "The excavation site is closed. I don't need any more workers or guards."

"I was looking for you actually." Libby says.

"I told you I'm not hiring anymore guards. Why do you people always bother me when I'm trying to finish my research?" he barks. "You idiot! Do you know who I am? The most recognized scholar on the Dwemer in all of Tamriel, and you people keep bothering me!"

Libby's lip contorts into a vicious snarl and reaches for her dagger. "I don't care about guarding your research you dumbass, I just wanted to ask you a fucking question!" she yells back.

The Calcelmo's eye widen at Libby's language, but he clears his throat. "I . . . I'm sorry I . . . I got too excited."

"Well that sure escalated quickly." Libby snaps.

"I'm in the middle of some very . . . stressful work, and I shouldn't have yelled. How can I help you?" he asks, applying a more friendly tone.

Libby takes a deep, calming breath and removes her hand from the hilt of her dagger. "I hear you're the authority on ancient Falmer."

Calcelmo smiles. "Then you were well informed. I am at this very moment on the cusp of completing my opus on the subject. I'm calling it "Calcelmo's Guide to the Falmer Tongue." It will revolutionize the way we understand those ancient beings."

"Perhaps I could view your work?" Libby asks.

"Preposterous!" Calcelmo denies. Libby rolls her eyes, groaning. "That research represents years of personal toil in some of the most dangerous Dwemer ruins in Skyrim! You must be mad to think I'd allow anyone to see it before it's completed."

"Well, I did hear a guard say that you own the Dwemer Museum?" Libby asks.

"Correct. It's a private place where I can catalog my research. Occasionally the Jarl will come in and have questions, but that's thankfully rare." Calcelmo says. "Tell you what, I'll let you in if you do something for me. There's a giant spider in Nchuand-Zel. My workers call her "Nimhe," the poisoned one. If you deal with Nimhe, I'll let you into both the excavation site and my Dwemer Museum. What do you say?"

Libby smiles. "That spider is as good as dead."

"Enthusiasm. Good. Here's the key to the dig sight." Calcelmo smiles.

The ruins themselves were impressive, and the spiders more of an annoyance than a threat. They each died with one shot of her arrows. Nimhe died instantly with three to the abdomen. After harvesting some venom, Libby returns to the Keep to tell Calcelmo the news.

"I've killed Nimhe." She says.

"You have my gratitude. That spider has been interfering with my excavations for months." says Calcelmo. "As promised, here's the key to the Dwemer Museum. Mind the displays. Some of them are quite fragile."

Libby nods and gives a sweet smile before she leaves Calcelmo. She quickly walks across the front of the Jarl and his guards, to imitate excitement for the museum. She unlocks the door and tucks the key in her pocket. She carefully treks through the museum up to the door that leads to the laboratory. None of the guards notice her, so she unlocks the door and slips inside.

She creeps in through a small entryhall before coming to the first room. She overhears a couple men talking. "You heard me, captain – our work must not be disturbed. Kill any intruders on sight. Call for backup if you need it. But let no one through."

Libby sneaks over to the door leading to the next room and finds another guard posted in front of the door she needed to bypass. She sees a pullbar just above her head and sees thick vertical lines on the floor. Libby waits until the guard walks right over the lines before pulling the bar.

There's a mechanical click and two gold rods shoot up, and appendages fold down and spin in circles. The swishing sound whistles in the air and Libby can see they're blades. They slice at the guard who dies in seconds, and gets flung across the room from the propulsion of the blade. With another pull, the blades retract and sink back down into the crevice.

Libby loots the body for gold and an extra key before heading deeper. She heads up a set of stairs before more guards' voice sound.

"What do you think this is?" one asks.

"Another trap most likely. Things are dangerous . . . three of the guards died when the lower hall flooded with steam last week." says the other.

Across from her spot, Libby finds the entrance to the lower hall. She creeps across the floor, past the guards and down to the lower level. A pungent odor instantly makes her nose wrinkle in disgust. Off to the right she sees the room, with thick green gas billowing about. On the floor are the three guards and skeletal remains of those before.

Libby sneaks her way in before the smell his her. The serum smells like smoke and spice, and her lungs reject it with the first breath she takes. Libby coughs and splutters. She grabs the dead guard by the helmet head and drag him out of the room. She feels the serum clinging to her skin like oil, but the heaviness recedes.

She loots the body of everything; leaving the clothes – of which have the stench of the gas, and keeping the gold and a steel dagger. Off to the left she sees a pressure plate that could stop the gas. Dropping the body of the guard, she slips through looting all their remains and finding extra keys before returning to her previous hiding spot. Above her head is a valve. Taking the risk, Libby rotates the wheel and watches as more of the razor wings rise up and begin spinning, they knock out one guard by slicing her legs. Libby looks away. Another guard, from the sound loses one arm and leg. One it's silent, Libby stops the razors and runs up to the bodies, trying not to look at the puddles of blood.

Slipping through a door and up the stairs she comes to an office for the mercenaries. There at least two in the room. Libby loads an arrow and shoots it in the direction of one guard, purposely missing for the distraction.

"I know I heard something." One says. The guard near the door goes to investigate with the other, and Libby swoops past them. "I guess I was just hearing things." She hears the guard dismiss.

Shutting the double doors behind her, Libby comes to a small aisle like room, a double door leading down a flight of stairs into a room with three guards and a wizard. Libby can't help but snarl. Wizards and witches were always annoying. They would constantly blare someone with magic and as that person is trying to approach them, they keep wandering back. Reasonable of course, yet so annoying.

Libby exhales deeply through her nose and finds another valve at the end of the aisle. She toggles up to it and rotates it right.

The room erupts.

Everything shakes. The pillars spew fire everywhere and there's the sound of harsh mechanic weapons spinning. The wizard screams and wails, the mercenary orders everyone to fall back. The wizard gets caught in the machinery, and Libby can hear him choke on his blood. One guard falls victim to the blades, while the other takes his own advice and flees the room into the previous one Libby came.

Libby rotates the valve back and heads down into the room. Looting the bodies of gold, and grabbing the Dwener Puzzle Cube, she advances to the Makarth Wizard's balcony. Now back outside, Libby takes little time to admire the view and smell of something other than gas fumes. She immediately heads up to Calcelmo's Tower.

Inside, Libby enters into an aisle with large stone pillared walls on either side. Tattered draperies sway from the slightest breeze ibn their failed phase. Stepping more in, she comes to a large platform with the stone tablet of the Falmer alphabet. It sits atop with two stone freestanding columns on guard on either side of it. She notices one set of stairs lead up towards flat stone trusses, so Libby takes the one on her right. Climbing up she measures the distance and leaps down onto the platform, rolling to come up on one knee.

She gazes at the stone. It's a foot taller than here and at least two and a half men wide. She braises her fingers over the stone with a feather-like touch. A carving of a Falmer head snarls at her with its ears pointed back. Looking behind her there's a door that leads to Calcelmo's study.

Instead, Libby finds an abandoned library, or whatever could be smaller than that, since the first thing she sees are books. Inside, the musty air held an antique thickness, and the scent of dust and aging books combined to make breathing a chore. The front room has multiple desks huddled in different corners, walls lined with rows of tall, sturdy bookshelves that reached almost the ceiling. Overhead, the tired light of torches burned a dull gold, adding little relief to the accumulated shadows. Carefully, she steps around a mound of ancient looking tomes gathered near the door. Libby's gaze passed up and over the marked spines of countless books, every item categorized by its own number and date, and it made her feel almost as though she is walking through catacombs. When she reaches the center, Libby peers around the shelf to see another desk. Well, really, there are lot of books piled on top of something that at one time must have been a desk. Also scattered with scribbled papers and charcoal everywhere.

Snatching a roll of paper and charcoal, Libby drapes the paper over the stone tablet and begins to scribble the charcoal across the paper. Once the charcoal was done and positive every inch of the paper was inscribed with the strange lettering of the language, she carefully rolls it up and tucks it away in her sheath of arrows. As she descends the stairs, her heels stop as she hears voices.

"All right men, spread out and search the tower-"

Libby quickly runs up to the trusses and ducks down flat on her stomach. She crawls to the edge and glances over.

"No telling who – or what – we're dealing with."

At least four mercenaries walk into the room guided by a wizard. One stands guard by the pillars while the other three heads up the left flight of stairs into Calcelmo's office. Libby hops on the capitol of her stone pillar and onto grading that leads right to the door. As she leaps down, she watches the guard follow the others further into the office.

Back out on the balcony, instead of walking all the way through back to the museum, Libby looks around and finds a small dirt narrow way behind the waterfall of the city. It leads her down past the water and to a small drop-off in front of Cidhna Mine. Once her feet are back on the ground, and sure no other guard had seen her, Libby pulls out Enthir's fast travel map. She closes her eyes and pictures Winterhold.

Once the cold air nips her nose, she opens her eyes and heads to the inn. Asking about Enthir, the innkeeper points her to the basement. Libby peers around the counter and finds a hidden stairway lead to the cellar. Libby carefully opens the door, shutting it quietly behind her.

Inside she finds Karliah and Enthir behind a wooden table counter. Unlike most other basements, this one has a whole section set off with a table set with food, a bed, wardrobe and side table. In the very back are the mead barrels and hay stacks where Karliah and Enthir stand. Libby smiles and walks up to them, giving Karliah a hug hello. Enthir approaches as Libby removes her hood.

"Back eh? And how was our friend Calcelmo?" Enthir sarcastically asks.

"As stubborn as you predicted. But this should help translate Dad's journal." Libby says pulling the roll of paper out of her quiver.

"I suppose it would be inappropriate of me to ask how you obtained this, so I simply won't." Enthis says. "A rubbing, eh? Odd. I expected notes."

"It's quite a tail." Libby sighs.

"I understand." Enthir chuckles. "Now, let me take a good look at this. Over here please."

Enthir walks behind the counter and sprawls the paper across the table. He pulls out Gallus's journal and begins to flick his eyes between the two. Libby looks to Karliah who spares her a glance and a small smile.

"Hmm. This is intriguing, but highly disturbing." Enthir begins.

"What?" Libby asks.

"It appears that Gallus had suspicions about Mercer Frey's allegiance to the Guild for months. Gallus had begun to uncover what he calls ". . . unduly lavish lifestyle replete with spending vast amounts of gold on personal pleasure."

Karliah and Libby step closer and Libby fists her hands. "Does the journal say where this wealth came from?" Karliah asks. Simultaneously she takes Libby's hand; as if she needs it to help her stay rooted into the earth. Or perhaps she needs the feel of something real while Enthir floats out Gallus's words.

"Yes. Gallus seems certain that Mercer had been removing funds from the Guild's treasury without anyone's knowing." Enthir answers.

Libby tightens her free hand, afraid she would crush Karliah's bones with the fury behind its grip. Surely knowing her knuckles were white, Libby tightens her chest and forces herself to breathe.

"Anything else, Enthir? Anything about . . . the Nightingales?" Karliah nearly begs from the tone in her voice.

Enthir flips through the pages with a look on his face that Libby has seen so many people make when they enter a certain zone of concentration. "Hmm. Yes, here it is. The last page seems to describe "the failure of the Nightingales" although it doesn't go into great detail. Gallus also repeatedly mentions his strong belief that Mercer desecrated something known as the Twilight Sepulcher." He pronounces.

Karliah's grip loosens, like her body gone limp and Libby looks to he and notices she's pale, even for a Dunmer. "Shadows preserve us." She says breathlessly. "So it's true . . ."

"What is it Karliah?" Libby asks.

"I, I'm not familiar with the Twilight Sepulcher. What is it? What's Mercer Frey done?" Enthir asks.

"I'm sorry Enthir, I can't say." Karliah replies, snapping out of her trance. "All that matters is we deliver your translation to the Guild immediately."

She removes her hand from Libby's grasp and steps back.

"Farewell, Enthir . . ." Karliah folds her lips in. "Words can't express . . ." her voice hitches.

"It's alright Karliah. You don't have to say a word." He eases. Karliah gives him a hug of gratitude and then turns to leave. Enthir approaches Libby. "Listen, all I want is the truth to be revealed to the Guild. They respected Karliah, and she deserves better. Do whatever you can, and I'd consider it a personal favor."

"Thank you, Enthir." Libby smiles.

"If trying to rid yourself of stolen goods becomes a burden, and you find yourself in Winterhold, visit me at the College." He smiles back. And with a pat on Libby's shoulder he ushers her out of the basement.

Libby finds Karliah near the front door and hurries over. "We must hasten to Riften before Mercer can do any more damage to the Guild."

"Dad's journal mentioned the "Twilight Sepulcher." What is that?" Libby asks.

"You've come this far, so I see no harm in concealing it any longer." Karliah says. "The Twilight Sepulcher is the temple to Nocturnal. It's what the Nightingales are sworn to protect with their lives."

Libby raises her eyebrows. "Why does it require that kind of protection?"

"Everything that represents Nocturnal's influence is contained within the realms of the Sepulcher. Now it seems Mercer's broken his oath with Nocturnal and defiled the very thing he swore to protect." Karliah explains.

"This doesn't add up."

"I felt the same way when Gallus first revealed these things to me. I think given time, you'll understand what I mean." Karilah says.

"And you still need to tell me about the Nightingales. Who they are!" Libby says growing impatient.

"As a Nightingale, I've been sworn to secrecy regarding the Sepulcher."

Libby rolls her eyes and groans as she goes for the handle on the door, but Karliah's hand touches her wrist. "I know the Guild doesn't do much to foster faith, but I'm going to ask that you continue to trust me."

"Of course I do! It's just . . . annoying and confusing. How can I avenge my dad, if I don't know who he really was, and what it is I'm saving?" Libby sighs.

"I think it is time I tell you. But first I want you to have this. It belonged to Gallus, and given the circumstances I think he'd approve."

Libby's heart hitches. Karliah pulls out a sword that looks like it was dyed in ebony. The blade had a darker tone to it, pulsating a red and green, the guard is circular and bore a crest of the symbol of a bird embracing a circle of undetailed blackness. Then the pommel it forged into three distinct bird feathers. With shaking hands, Libby takes the sword and despite its sharpness, glides her hand along the blade, poking at the tip with her finger.

Libby's eyes well with tears, and she sniffs. "Thank you Karliah. I promise I'll put it to good use."

"If the Guild isn't willing to listen to reason, you might have to." Karliah says. "Now, I do think it's time I show you something else. Something I know Gallus would say you're more than ready for. Once we're done, I'll make for Riften and scout the situation; see if I can discover what Mercer's up to."

"And Diamond?" Libby asks.

Karliah gives her half a smile. "After I show you this, you can see her again. Now follow me."

"To . . ."

"Just outside of Riften, beyond the Southeast gate is a small path cut up the mountainside. At the end of that path is a clearing and an old standing stone. It's important we go there now."

Libby wants to ask what its importance is, but she know Karliah is probably leading her to somewhere big. Since it's not the Sepulcher, obviously, it must be something related to the Nightingales.

She follows Karliah out the door and lets her lead her horse all the way back to Riften. Up the small path Libby can see the clearing Karliah mentioned. The place seemed to practically disappear into the rock. Libby and Karliah dismount and Libby sticks close to Karliah as they approach.

"Whoa."

Karliah walks up to the standing stone and hurries Libby forward. "This is the Headquarters of the Nightingales, cut into the mountainside by the first of our kind. It's time I give you the grant that Gallus would say you more than deserve."

"What kind of grant?"

"Just follow me and I'll explain on the way." Karliah answers.

They enter through a hidden door and into a small cave tunnel. Karilah leads Libby down a dirt path with only the light of the torches and a small crevice that blows a withered banner. Around the corner, they pass under a banner depicting the crest of the bird and the room opens.

"This is Nightingale Hall. You're the first of the uninitiated to set foot inside in over a century." Karliah explains.

Libby raises her eyebrows.

"Now if you'll proceed to follow me, I'll show you your new armor." Karliah says.

Libby nods. She looks around the hall and can't help but smile. Gallus was from here. This place is both her ancient and her recent history. She can feel Gallus in the walls, in the air. Libby can feel him settled inside her, never to leave again.

Death could not erase him; he is permanent.

"Now if you'll proceed to the armory to adorn your Nightingale Armor, we can begin the Oath." Karliah says.

Libby suddenly stops, her hands growing cold, heart racing.

Karliah stops walking and turns. "You appear hesitant to don your Nightingale Armor. What's troubling you?"

"Do you really think I'm ready?" Libby asks as she descends the stairs.

"I personally don't. But this isn't my choice, and I don't want you to doubt yourself. This is Gallus's decision."

"How do you know?"

Karliah pauses. She looks to the armor stones and smiles. "Gallus and I have been partners for a long time. And he always said to me, about you, to always think the opposite of what I think. So if I were to believe you're not ready, he would think the opposite. Almost as if he were preparing me for this moment. He'd be proud of you."

Libby smiles and turns to approach the stone. A single touch, a close of her eyes, and she feels the Guild's armor dissipate like ash from her body. Seconds later, it feels like tendrils of darkness crawl across her arms and torso. They tickle and wrap about her body, encasing her in shadow. She feels the darkness grow in volume and go to cover her nose, yet she doesn't suffocate. A mask. Then her arms feel heavier as she feels gloves about her forearms. Then her feet are within boots.

Libby opens her eyes and turns to Karilah who only smiles. She guides Libby towards a reflective shield, and Libby peers at it.

The being in the mirror is from another world. Where they make their clothes out of pure darkness and the scales of dragons.

The entire ensemble was black, scaled armor that covered her from the neck down alone and appears to be made as forged midnight. The shoes had thin soles, perfect for sneaking undetected. It is as black as a night; she'll be virtually invisible in the dark. The hood comes with a mask piece that covers nearly her entire face, leaving only her eyes exposed as two pinpricks of light; and when the hood is drawn, they're shadowed so there's nothing but blackness. Libby can't feel any reinforced protection over her vital organs, and feels weary. But the maker must be pretty confident she will not be seen if it wasn't incorporated. The glove-gauntlets wrap all up her arms, no skin exposed. The hood connects to a cape that falls down her back, stopping just below the knees. So in the event she needs to run, it relieves her of having to tug or hold at it.

It was so intricately designed and dark, Libby is breathless. It seemed dangerous, deadly. The base of the chest bears an insignia that resembles a night bird cradling the moon in its wings.

"This is . . . amazing." Libby compliments, adjusting the gloves and bending her fingers.

"Walk around. Make sure it fits alright." Karliah says.

Libby walks in a circle, jogs from end to end on the deck and circles her arms, twists her torso and waist. "Fits well. Perfectly, even.

"You appear ready for the Oath." Karliah smiles.

Libby nods. She feels excited, suddenly, to learn more about these discreet shadow warriors, which feels like the same thing as learning how to be a thief: she will get pieces of her father back.


	15. Chapter 15

Vex isn't in the Flagon like she normally is. Delvin says it's because she wants as much time away from the Ratway as possible. Unlike Diamond, she can't bear the sight of the place that holds so many memories of her and Libby.

Diamond awoke the next morning and immediately brought herself to the Flagon to show Delvin the amulet.

There still is no sign of Brynjolf, and even if he was around, Diamond wouldn't know what to say. She's still trying to rationalize about Libby, and they both probably wouldn't talk much. So, she keeps to herself and finds Delvin at the bar.

When she walks up, he instantly speaks. "Never knew how valuable Libby was to this rat hole until she's gone. Feel free to make yourself at home here, Diamond. And if you need anything from me, just ask."

"Actually I do. I originally came here on Dark Brotherhood business." She says.

"Oh. Oh I see. How is Astrid doin' these days? Tell her to stop by some time. We can have a drink. Catch up. Ah, but we can discuss that later, yeah? What does the Brotherhood need?" Delvin says.

"What can you tell me about this?" Diamond hands Delvin the amulet.

"Let's see . . ." His eyes widen. "Where oh where did you get this? Don't answer – I don't want to know. This is an amulet of the Emperor's Elder Council. Specially crafted for each member. Worth a small fortune. Ain't somethin' you'd give up lightly."

He looks to it with concern, and possibly fear. Diamond tends to forget how some of her missions compare to that of the Guild. All the more reason why she hates being called a kid.

Devin frowns. "Look, it ain't my business to tell the Dark Brotherhood its business, but if you killed a member of the Elder Council, you'd better belie -"

"Will you but it?" Diamond cuts him off.

"Buy it? This? An Elder Council amulet?" She watches as a flicker of the old Delvin, under the layer of grief, sparks to life. "Oh yes. Oh yes, indeed. Wait just a moment . . ."

He hands Diamond a letter.

"Here. It's a letter of credit. Usable only by Astrid only, for any service or item I can provide. As per out standard arrangement." Delvin says. "You bring that back to your lovely mistress. With my regards."

Diamond nods and heads into the Cistern. She realized straight away that it's movement, not stillness, that helps keep the grief at bay, so she turns her focus onto the Dark Brotherhood mission. Despite Cynric saying she shouldn't bury her emotions, Diamond still pushes her grief away to keep it from devouring her. She exits the Ratway and makes her way through Riften. As she passes, she tugs her cloak close to her body. As she crosses the bridges and passes through the Sqaure, she overhears citizens and guards alike mumbling about the Faceless.

"Did you hear the news? Been a murder over in Windhelm. The court wizard of Jarl Ulfric. Those Faceless women are incredibly dangerous. The killing rate seems to have increased over night." One guard tells the other.

"I overheard that they're eliminating the Dark Brotherhood. I never thought I'd hear about assassins competing against each other I thought they all work together." The other guard speaks.

"No, these women are too good for the Dark Brotherhood. If you ask me, let them kill each other. Make things easier for us."

Diamond snarls as she passes the guards. She sidesteps a couple gossiping around the produce cart.

"I'm telling you, I saw one. A Faceless assassin. It looked like she was made from the shadows themselves." A man says to his wife.

"Aren, I think you've had too much mead." She replies.

"No Mijoll! I swear. She just stepped from the shadows, and all I could see was a white cloth over her face. I've never been so scared in my life."

Diamond growls as she quickens her pace to the front gate.

"Honestly, I'm hoping the Faceless Women don't come here. They seem to know everything when it comes to battle. It's like they can predict your moves before you can."

"I don't really believe in these Faceless Women. Their bodies made of shadow and how blood slides off their cloaks. Sounds like someone made this up after consuming too much skooma."

Diamond bursts through the gates with a vicious snarl on her face as she strides towards the carriage and off to Falkreath. She returns down into the Sanctuary where Astrid is haunched over her table.

"Good, you're back. Well, what did Mallory have to say? Is the amulet authentic?" Astrid asks.

"Yeah, and specially made for members of the Elder Council." Diamond says. She tosses Astrid the necklace and plops down into the throne chair on the other side of the table.

"The Elder Council?" Astrid breathes in disbelief. "Oh, now that explains quite a bit. Motierre, you naughty, naughty boy. Hiring the Dark Brotherhood to help your rise beyond your station. Delicious." Diamond shudders at the grimly smile on Astrid's lips. "Was Mallory willing to buy the amulet?"

"He was. Here's a letter of credit." Diamond hands her the letter.

"Splendid. Then we're ready to begin. Or, more specifically, you're ready to begin. After all, you're the one the Night Mother spoke to."

Diamond has a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew Astrid would use the whole Listener thing against Diamond in some way. And this is it.

"Now then. I hope you have something nice to where. Because you're going to a wedding." Astrid says.

Diamond leans forward, elbows to her knees and raises an eyebrow in curiosity. "A wedding?"

"Well, more like the public reception. It should be a lovely affair. You'll mingle with the guests, eat some cake . . . stab the bride." Astrid grimaces.

Diamond's eyes widen in disbelief. "I'll . . . what?"

"Oh yes. You need to kill the bride. At her wedding." Astrid confirms. "And they say romance is dead." Astrid laughs.

"W-wait, I thought we were going after the Emperor." Diamond clarifies.

"The target's name is Vittoria Vicci. She oversees the East Empire Company's business holdings in Solitude." Astrid says. "That's where the wedding will be held, at the Temple of Divines. Her death will cause an uproar, which is exactly what we want."

"But why target her? What's her connection to the Emperor?" Diamond repeats.

"She's the Emperor's cousin." Astrid answers. "She's an Imperial, and her husband's a Nord. Their marriage could lead to one step closer to creating a peace between the two tribes. But we need to make sure that doesn't happen."

Diamond leans back into the throne chair, crossing her arms "So, I'm guessing the Emerpor is coming to the party to? Is that where I kill him?"

"No. The Emperor was supposed to be there, but canceled last minute." Astrid sneers. "How convenient. By murdering his cousin, he'll then have no choice but to make an appearance."

"Ah."

"Remembers, we want people to notice. Kill Vici while she's addressing her guests, as is custom, and I can promise a bonus." Astrid smiles. "The wedding's tomorrow. So I recommend getting some sleep. Gabriella have an outfits for you in the morning."

Diamond nods and rises from the throne seat and heads down the hall into the bed chambers. She tries her best to avoid Cicero since the whole, Listener thing. She doesn't know what it is, but something about him is just so irritating to her. Everything he does she just wants to slice his throat. His stupid dancing, his mumbling to self. If it weren't for Astrid's orders, Diamond would've killed him the minute she fell out of the coffin.

Diamond makes it to her bed when she suddenly stops. If she sleeps. If she sits still, the grief will bubble up and envelop her; but she needs to be at top strength if she is to kill the bride tomorrow. And as of right now, killing the bride is more important. Diamond forces herself to sit on the edge of the bed and tugs out the rubberband securing her hair. She ruffles her follicles and sighs. She nestles into the pelts of Sabre cats and conjures up ideas on how she wants to execute this maneuver. A knife to the belly, arrow to the throat.

Despite her distractive thinking, she still hears the anguished wailing of the girl inside.

The next morning, Diamond wakes up facing the wall. She blinks and pushes to a sitting position. She stretches and yawns, her back muscles popping. She gazes around and finds small rays of sunlight piercing through crevices in the stone. Gabriella comes up the steps and smiles.

"Oh good, you're up." she approaches Diamond with a paper-wrapped package. "I've got your clothes. Just take a bath and we'll get dressed."

Diamond nods and slinks out of bed, sauntering into the bath chamber. Diamond ignites the pitch-coated logs beneath the water pump, and strips out of her garments. The pump whistles softly to tell her the water is warm enough, and she releases the handle to drain its contents into the carved stone tub.

To Dia's expectation, it starts out cold first, as steam rose, more of the hot water banishes the rest of its chill. Allowing herself a moment of luxury, Diamond sinks beneath its skin. Its' quiet here, the outside noise muffled and distorted by the water around her. Diamond pretends she's in a cocoon, asleep, the world passing her by, and when she wakes, all of this will have been a very bad dream.

The water's cooling by the time she decides to wash her hair and attack her skin with soap. By the time she steps out, she water is hazy, and Diamond pumps more water to pour over herself before stepping out of the tub.

She walks into the bed chamber again to find Gabriella had posted blankets up to block any unwanted eyes. Diamond shudders and gags at the thought of Festus trying to peek at her while she's nude.

"Don't worry, I've told them not to peek on us or else." Gabriella smiles.

Diamond half smiles back and walks over to her bed where she finds a blue dress of fine material. She towels off, wrenches out her hair and allows Gabriella to fling the dress over her head. The laces across the back seem old-fashioned and overly elaborate, but Gabriella navigated them with ease.

"Suck in your breath more," Gabriella orders.

Diamond obeys. The laces slide tighter. Diamond's chest heaves upward, looking twice its original size. When she looks down at her body, the cleavage seemed obscene. Diamond's eyes widen and she looks to Gabriella, annoyed.

"Bear through." She says, recognizing the look. "A man thinks with his nether regions. The sight of you will stir them, as long as a man's stirred, he's stupid."

"What if he's stupid before?"

Gabriella laughs. "Men may be stupid, but women talk, and all around you will be ears."

Diamond follows Gabriella to the ritual chamber where the Night Mother's coffin stands at the head of the alter. Before she sits down, she walks up and slams the doors shut.

"Be careful." Gabriella says. "We don't want Cicero to go on a rampage."

Diamond sneers. She then sits on the one of the benches and let's Gabriella dab her with perfume, comb her hair, and drape a multitude of necklaces across her neck and chest. When she's finished, Diamond glances into an offered looking glass, hardly recognizing the woman in the reflection.

The deep blue of the dress brings out the blue in her eyes, and the diamonds sewn into the bodice sparkle in the light. The skirt she wore has several layers. Gabriela separated them, making sure Diamond watches. The innermost is thin, white, and silky. Her hair is curled, and pinned back by sparkling burettes and her pink tips were arranged to that when they twist back, they fade from pink to her blonde sandy color. Diamond slides her skirt up to strap her knife sheath to her thigh.

"How am I supposed to reach for this in a fight?" she asks.

"Make a slit in the skirt and the layers. You can hide the slit with your arm while you're mingling with the guests, but you'll be able to reach your weapon if you need it."

Diamond makes the silt and slides her knife in and riffles the skirt to obscure the hole. She then adjusts and fidgets with the skirt and dress until she's comfortable, enough.

"Well, time to face the rest of the Brotherhood. If you can get past them, you can easily get past the guards." Gabriella smiles.

Diamond sighs nervously as she follows Gabriella out into the main chamber. Veezara and Festus are by the armory hearth while Nazir stands over by the fire. They all look up in unison, and Diamond feels a bud of confidence bloom in her chest as their eyes widen, and Veezara nearly drops his sword on Festus's foot. Diamond portrays an innocent smile and bats her eyes.

"Oh my, Diamond. You look beautiful!" Babette compliments. Diamond smiles as she sees Babette's genuine.

"Breathtaking." Veezara adds, and Diamond giggles as she sees a tint of red burn through his green scaly cheeks.

Astrid comes down the steps, eyes Diamond and smiles ear to ear. It should have given Diamond a hint of happiness, but really Astrid only smiles because Diamond will only fit in well at the party, not because she's beautiful.

If only Libby could see her. She would shower Diamond with compliments and giggles and funny jokes about men that would make Diamond snort from laughter. Diamond shakes her head as if to get the dust out and sighs.

"You look perfect. I'm sure you'll be the last person anyone will think of to blame once the bride is dead." Astrid compliments.

"Thank you Astrid." Diamond says, bowing her head.

Gabriella guides to the epicenter of the chamber. "I've set up a bag and some extra weapons for you in a veranda opposite the balcony."

"Thanks."

"Now go. Off to Solitude with you. And give the bride a special kiss, from me." Astrid slyly says.

As Diamond makes her way to the hall, Veezara takes it upon himself to escort her up the steps and out of the Sanctuary. Outside, Diamond finds Astrid's horse, Shadowmere waiting by the pool.

"Astrid said you could take him to the party. I'm sure the stables will hold him." Veezara says.

"Alright."

Veezara helps her up onto the ebony stallion, his hands a bit too friendly around her waist as he did. Diamond was so glad to relax her feet from her pinching shoes that she let it slide. She snaps the reins and Shadowmere trots the whole way to the city. Dropping him off at the farm down the hill of the hold, Diamond walks all the way up to the gates where she exchanges a shy smile as the guard opens the gates.

Diamond doesn't need to act self-conscious as she passes guards and the men of the hold. She truly does feel the need to cover herself because the dress is giving her so much attention. How is she supposed to slip out with all the eyes of the men on her? As Diamond mounts the ramp leading to Castle Dour, she gratefully accepts the help of guards and takes their hands as they lead her to the ceremony courtyard.

It was quite the event with guards posted at each entrance and exit. A large plush rug running down the middle aisle created by rows of benches with exquisite designs and architectural carvings. On the ends of the front row benches are potted snowberries and flowers and a bard plays "Age of Aggresion" over in the corner. At the forefront of the courtyard, Vittoria and her husband are dressed in elegant clothing, Vittoria with a flower crown about her head, and the most genuine smile on her face. They sit under a white pavilion with wines of nightshade crawling up them to frame them with color and elegance.

Buffet tables are overflowing with foods and covered with an elaborate feasts. A whole roasted pig, with an apple stuck in its mouth. A standing rib roast with little paper puffs on the top of each rib, sat next to a mangled-looking goose covered with chestnuts. A crown roast filet tied with rosemary, and exotic dishes she's never seen. Large birds stuffed with dressings and pears, resting on peacock feathers arranged to resemble a live bird's open tail. There are bowls of gravies and sauces and creams, rolls and breads, collard and beets and spreads Diamond can't name. Then sparkling candies shaped like different types of fish.

Diamond glances around and takes notes of all the guests. There are at least three priests at the party, at least a handful of Imperials, and twice as many Nords. If Diamond were to be discovered, and the crowd jumps in, she most likely wouldn't stand a chance. Diamond scopes out the veranda Gabriella mentioned and makes a movement to go, when she's stopped by a man stepping in front of her.

"Well, aren't you a likely looking filly. Even if you are an Imperial." He speaks.

Diamond looks up and sees that it's the Thane of Solitude, Erikur. Diamond remembers him. He's very powerful, and tends to use that to his advantage.

"What's your mane, dear?" he asks, his smile all too predatory. Diamond mentally curses Gabriella for making her wear this dress.

"Um, I'm . . ."

_Don't use your real name_.

"I'm, Sapphire." Diamond lies.

_Nice cover_. _Very creative_. She then mentally slaps herself.

"Ah, I see. Are you enjoying the party?" he asks, stepping closer.

"I am. Though not to deprive the bride and groom, it would seem the real attraction is the food. I've never seen such exquisite foods." Diamond daintily giggles and folds her hands in front of her, squishing her chest tight. This catches Erikur's attention. "You want a drink, something to eat?" Diamond asks.

"No, no that's not what I'm interested in right now." His eyes trail up and down Diamond's body, resting on her chest though he lamely tries to cover it. "I just wanted to get a better look at you. I like what I see, my dear."

_Clearly_. Still Diamond innocently smiles and bats her eyes.

"And believe me, I don't say that to everyone. I'm very discriminating when it comes to the female form." Erikur waggles an eyebrow and it takes everything Diamond has not to look disgusted.

She giggles. "Why thank you sir. Would you mind if I get myself a drink?"

"Oh . . . of course, help yourself. Don't go far." He winks.

"Yes sir." Diamond smiles.

As he walks away her smile fades instantly and she spits into the flowerpot next to her, and shudders. For the next hour Diamond mingles with guests and tries to avoid Erikur's gaze. Though the man in persistent. He once sat next to Diamond and placed his hand on her knee. She couldn't shake him off since he's known to have a short temper. Finally, as Vittoria makes her way to the balcony with her husband, Diamond excuses herself and makes her way to the tower.

Once she reaches the veranda, she finds a satchel and an elven bow with four arrows from Gabriella. Diamond eagerly changes out of the dress and lets down her hair. She kicks off the heels with half a mind to save them because of the cute bow on the toe. She changes into her Brotherhood armor and ties her hair back in her comfortable ponytail. She ducks low and pulls the cowl up over the lower half of her face.

Vittoria appears on the balcony. Diamond loads an arrow into the bow and remembers Libby's training.

"_Keep both eyes open, and make sure to focus on your target_." She hears her say.

"Honored guests, Are you all enjoying yourselves? Please, eat, drink, and make merry on this most happy of days." Vittoria starts.

Diamond pulls back the arrow and takes a deep breath. She holds her breath and aims for a nightshade flower strapped to Vittoria's dress; just over her heart.

Diamond lets the arrow fly but it doesn't hit her in the stomach. Instead, it pierces through Vittoria's throat. Diamond watches as she collapses and blood instantly begins to pool under her neck. It smears into the dress as her husband kneels down and holds her in his arms.

"Vittoria, no!" he wails.

Diamond sheaths the bow and umps. She flips and her hands catch the top of the wall and flips her over, whirling and spinning until she lands with one leg outstretched and one bent in front of the crowd.

The crowd explodes. Furious shouts coupled with heartbroken wails. "Please, someone do something!" "The bride has been murdered! Please, somebody help!" Diamond leaps into the air, flipping and spinning her dagger out. She lands and instantly windmill kicks one guard and flips another one over her back. When a guard grabs her from behind, Diamond elbows him in the gut and slams the heel of her foot down. He releases her, and Diamond runs. Some give chase. It wasn't long before she nearly crashes into Veezara.

"Veezara?"

"Astrid ordered me to keep an eye on you. Figured you could use a hand when the chaos erupted." He smiles. He raises his sword and Diamond bends back. The blade plunges deep into the chest of the guard behind her. The man makes a wet gurgling noise in the back of his throat and reaches for the blade embedded in his chest.

Diamond whirls out from under the blade and kicks the man in the head. Veezara orders her to go, and Diamond obeys. She sprints down the ramps and through the town as more and more guards concentrate on Veezara. She barrels through the gates and continues to sprint down the hill. The two guards who spotted didn't have time to draw their swords as she flings to daggers that each land in their throats.

Diamond mounts Shadowmere and they thunder down the roads. Shadowmere isn't an ordinary stallion. For the entire ride back to the sanctuary, he runs at a full out sprint even after they've cleared danger. The time cut when they arrive astounds Diamond. She dismounts and heads inside. When she finds Astrid, Astrid bursts into a maniacal laughter.

"The news is everywhere! Vittoria Vici, the Emperor's cousin, butchered at her own wedding! Well done!" Astrid congratulates. "Let's see his eminence try to ignore this!"

"The blushing bride now serves Sithis in the Void."

"And still not a word of the whereabouts on The Faceless. I wonder if they're too stunned to do something." Astrid smiles.

"You think they're impressed?" Diamond snots.

"Well, I haven't heard news of them killing an emperor."

Diamond's nerves fizzle. "Oh no, what if everyone thinks it's them? What if they think that the Faceless did this -!"

"Diamond, Diamond. Calm down. Everyone knows we're the ones responsible." Astrid assures. "With Vici's murder, you've started us down a path the Dark Brotherhood hasn't traveled in centuries. The assassination of an emperor." Astrid stretches out the words as if to take in their true meaning and realize the power they wield. "And now, you're reward. A unique spell to summon a legend of the Dark Brotherhood. His soul now serves us now in death, as his body once did in life."

Diamond takes the scroll, and eyes it before looking to Astrid.

"Ah, and of course, a bonus, for killing Vici while she addressed her guests, as instructed. Gold . . . simple and pure. Spend it as you will." Astrid hands Diamond a large coin purse, and Diamond takes it with careful hands. "Now then. Time to proceed to the next stage of the plan. Go and speak with Gabriella. She's been helping me arrange your next contract."

"Okay." Diamond nods and proceeds to her room, where she stores the gold in the trunk near her bed.

As she looks up, she finds a strange gem on her nightstand. It's a pretty pink gem that floats above a purple plush cushion inside a gold metal box. The gem rotates in place while simply hovering place. Diamond peers closer at the gem as it floats. She remembers Libby finding a gem just like it. For some reason, Diamond turns it over, and scratched on the bottom of the box, is the Guild logo. Diamond feels a small chill tingle its way up her spine. The last Diamond remembers the gem being was, on Libby's nightstand in the Guild.

How did it wind up here . . .?

Diamond looks all around and keeps note on the suspicious feeling dwelling in the back of her mind. Tucking the gem away, Diamond heads down the steps and proceeds to the exit of the Sanctuary, vaguely telling Astrid she has some Guild business to attend to.

Taking Shadowmere, the heads to Riften.


	16. Chapter 16

Diamond purposely takes the longer route to the Guild, navigating through the Ratways to get the Ragged Flagon. Once inside, she notices a small difference. A merchant has set up shop just outside the Flagon. As Diamond passes by, she notices it's an elf. She walks up the ramp and receives a nod of hello from Dirge. On a course of luck, Diamond finds Vex standing in her usual spot of the Flagon.

Diamond approaches her when Vex turns her head and spots her, she keeps her face placid and scolding. "What's up?" Vex almost demands.

Diamond doesn't' bother wasting breath and time asking if she's okay. Besides the fact that Vex doesn't really press any emotion besides anger and annoyance, Diamond isn't there to dwell. She digs through her pocket and pulls out the gold box. "Is this unusual gem worth anything?"

Vex's eyes widen. "Been a while since I've seen one of those." She breathes in disbelief. "What you've got there is a Stone of Barenziah."

"Is it worth anything?" Diamond asks.

"Not like that it isn't. The stone was pried off of Barenziah's ceremonial crown by a thief in order to cover his tracks."

"And how many are there?"

"I think there were, twenty-four in all. Most people keep them as a curiosity. Some of the Guild members have tried to locate them over the years, but they haven't been successful . . . well, until now." Vex explains.

"Don't thank me, Libby found it." Diamond says.

"I figured." Vex smirks. "When did she give it to you?"

Instead of telling Vex that Diamond found it on her nightstand when she really last saw it near Libby's bed, she lies and shrugs her shoulders. "I think she gave it to me because it's pink."

Vex rolls her eyes.

"You sure you won't buy it?" Diamond asks.

"Look, I only buy things I can turn around quickly for a profit. And no one wants these stones unless they have the whole set." Vex says. Diamond's face lowers into disappointment, then Vex recovers. "Tell you what, if you find the rest of them, talk to me again. Otherwise, keep it. It may even bring you luck."

Diamond can't fight the smile as she nods to Vex. It grows wider when she sees Vex have a half smile on her face. Diamond tucks the gem away and then looks for Brynjolf.

It's now been six days since Libby's murder. Diamond hasn't been in contact with Brynjolf since the day he told her in the Cistern. Wonder how he's holding up.

Diamond enters the Cistern, and while things seem normal, there's still a heaviness of grief and dread. The Guild members go about their business, Mercer ay his desk while others gather at the archery station, the cooking pot or just sit around the Cistern, dipping their feet in the water. Diamond decides to ask Thrynn where to find Brynjolf. He says she'll find him in the training room. Diamond heads inside, and he's there; standing with his arms folded, observing Niruin as he shoots arrows at all the targets. Diamond approaches him, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Brynjolf."

Brynjolf's head turns to look, and Diamond can see a ghost of a smile on his lips. "Well now, aren't you a sight for sore eyes. I wasn't certain I'd ever see you again, lass."

"I came to talk." Diamond vaguely says.

Brynjolf's lips flatten into a tight line, but he nods. Being a man of the Guild, he understands vague talk like it's a second language, which in a way, it is. He escorts Diamond out of the training room and into the hallway outside. He leans against the wall, arms crossed waiting for Diamond to start. She nervously fiddles with her fingers, then forces herself to stop and just say it.

"I don't think Libby is really gone." Diamond first starts. Brynjolf opens his mouth to say something, but Diamond cuts him off. "And this isn't just denial, it's something, more. Look, I know this sounds preposterous but you and I both know Libby. She's too, good. And I just know it. I can feel it inside me."

"I can't be certain about a certain feeling of a sixteen-year-old." Brynjolf says.

"There's more to it than that. I've been thinking . . . and, doesn't it seem, oddly convenient that Mercer made it out but Libby didn't?"

"Diamond, Mercer is the Guild Master for a reason. He's the best at larceny." Brynjolf reminds. "And Libby is good, but she was going against Karliah."

"Brynjolf you _know_ her!" Diamond suddenly snaps. Unsure where the sudden burst of anger came from, she doesn't care; she simply rides its wave as it spews words from her mouth like vicious fire. "She's been in the Guild all her life! She's too cautious to wind up being murdered at the hands of Karliah!"

Brynjolf folds his lips in, whether to suppress anger or to try and organize the right words together. His voice is firm. "She was good, Diamond. But she was pitted against Karliah. Karliah was Gallus's old partner. She's had much more experience and her greatest weapon is the element of surprise."

"So you don't think she was ever good enough?! How can you think that about her?!"

"Because it's Karliah! Next to Gallus, she was the best we ever had in this Guild!" Brynjolf barks back. His voice is loud and deep and it reverberates through Diamond's bones, nearly shaking her to the core. Still, she doesn't cower.

Instead, Diamond relaxes her shoulders and steps back. When Brynjolf looks to her, she snarls. Diamond's voice is hard as ice, and just as cold.

"You never believed in her, did you."

A millisecond after the words slip from her tongue, Diamond feels the wind get knocked out of her as pain soars through her spine, and she realizes Brynjolf has pinned her against the wall. The wound in her shoulder throbs harshly, still Diamond bites the inside of her lips to suppress a groan.

Diamond opens her eyes, only to find Brynjolf's piercing through her. They say looks could kill? Well, if that's the case, Diamond would be dead three times over.

Brynjolf's breathing is fast, and his voice is a low whisper as he speaks. "I've raised that girl since she was a small lass barely able to swing a blade. I've watched her grow and prosper, and bypass anyone's expectations of her. So don't you _dare_, say that I never believed in her!"

At this, he grips Diamond's shoulder; his fingers squeezing the wound until Diamond was sure he would leave it black and blue. Diamond grits her teeth and squeezes her eyes shut tight as she tries to suppress her scream of pain, and it takes everything she has not to push him off her. Brynjolf's grip loosens, but still he sneers.

"You want the truth? I think Libby could've handled Karilah with one arm tied behind her back. But Karilah was _ready_ for them. She had planned this whole thing since the beginning, you don't think she expected them to come?"

He releases Diamond harshly, and she catches herself before she could slip to the floor. She instantly grips her shoulder and begins to rub it to dull the pain. Regret flashes through Brynjolf's eyes, then Diamond can see them gleam from tears. She sniffs and pretend to itch his eyes.

"Why are you so easily excusing this? That's what I'm really mad about." Diamond croaks.

"What are you talking about?"

"Libby was everything to you." Diamond spits. "Yet here you are, standing in the training room, acting like: "Op, well we lost another member, that's just business. Better get back to work and find someone else!" You're acting like she wasn't that important!"

She readies herself to Brynjolf to spring at her and slit her throat, but composes himself better this time and takes a deep breath, though his eyes blaze with anger. He pushes off the wall, stands straight and folds his arms. "Diamond, why do you think we now have a new merchant outside the Flagon?" Brynjolf asks, his voice deep and soft.

Diamond's eyes flick from side to side, expecting a trap. She shrugs her shoulders. "Because you've earned more money?"

"Money, that Libby has brought us. He moved in just after we got the news. She completed a special requested job from Delvin, gained us an ally in Whiterun, and in turn a merchant. That means news of the Guild is spreading. Just as we're reclaiming Skyrim, we lose our most valuable member." Brynjolf's voice softens to a hurt whisper. "Now's she can't even see her work."

Diamond bites her lip and averts her gaze. "I'm sorry." She mumbles.

"Where'd all this come from anyway?" Brynjolf asks.

"I already told you." Diamond sighs. "I just find it, suspicious. I mean, you and I both know that Libby is great at what she does. She's more than capable of leveling with Mercer. And the _one_ mission she's finally assigned with him, she . . . dies. You don't find that strange? Not even oddly coincidental?"

"I've already told you Diamond, Libby . . ."

"No disrespect Brynjolf," Diamond interrupts. "But you didn't know Libby the way I did."

At this, Brynjolf doesn't argue, he instead chuckles. "You're right. But what did she say?"

"She always had theses suspicions that Mercer never liked her. How he always had this, disapproving glare always aimed at her. And no matter what she did, she could never mount. I don't know, I just feel like there's something missing. Something Mercer isn't telling everyone."

"Diamond, you do realize the level of treachery you could show for blaming the Guild Master for something he didn't do?" Brynjolf warns.

"I'm not blaming him for anything. Not yet."

Brynjolf sighs in defeat. "Libby always said you were stubborn. Well, if you want to pursue this, be my guest. Just keep it outside the Guild, and watch what you say. Be careful Diamond. The walls have ears."

Diamond nods, and before Brynjolf leaves, Diamond is surprised to feel his hand pat the top of her head. He then turns the corner and is out of sight, doesn't look back. Diamond leans against the wall with her fingers intertwined together. She pulls out the gem again and turns it to gaze at the bottom. The Guild symbol scratched into the otherwise flawless gold casing.

Libby had told Diamond that the Guild shadowmark was always her way of telling Diamond that she was near or around. Diamond would constantly see it on barrels filled with supplies, in alleyways where she could meat merchants to sell her goods and buy illegal but powerful weapons. It always led Diamond to success and things just as she needs them the most. It's never failed her. So why doubt it now just because the Guild members are willing to give up.

Diamond goes over the event in her head. Mercer said that Libby walked two steps in front of him. And apart from their missions, Libby was never one to lead. She would rather go solo than bring anyone else along who might risk her chances of exposure on a job. So, if Mercer claims she went ahead, and given it's her first mission together, Diamond can only assume he made her take the lead. Then whatever happened to "No Man Left Behind?" why hadn't he bothered to rescue Libby, even if she was already dead on the scene. Why wouldn't he rescue her if she had even the slightest chance of surviving? Take her to a mage or a healer?

_If he really cared about her, he would have_. Diamond thinks.

But he doesn't, so he didn't. But this is all Diamond has, and it isn't much compared to the story Mercer probably has. Knowing him, he'll probably come up with every bullshit answer he can pull out of his ass. It wouldn't even have to be good for the Guild members to believe him. And since Diamond is an outsider, her chances are even slimmer than that. She'll need solid, sure evidence for the Guild to be on her side.

But the only evidence Diamond can think of to prove something like that, it Libby being alive. And since she only has her gut feeling to follow, Diamond's motivation wans. But then she remembers what Libby said one day while they were raiding a bandit camp, to always trust herself.

"_You've got great instincts Diamond. I know you think they're a weakness, but they're a strength. Trust them_."

Diamond fists her hand and stows away the gem. She pushes off the wall and jogs to the opposite side of the Cistern. She pops through the sewer entrance and jogs up the steps out of the mausoleum.

Libby is alive. And she's going to prove it.

Diamond jogs all the way up to the main gates, where she quickly barrels through and up the stables. As she mounts Shadowmere, she pulls out the map she took from inside Libby's end table. Snow Veil Sanctum is to the northeast, if she were to walk all night – Shadowmere more than capable of taking it – she could make it there by dawn.

She snaps the reins and Shadowmere trots down the main road. They make it all the way towards the first burial crypt before Snow Veil Sanctum. As she passes the entrance, a part of her is hesitant to enter, afraid she might find Libby's remains; but she keeps pursuing going off the feeling she won't.

Shadowmere suddenly stops and neighs with caution. Diamond dismounts and walks ahead thinking he might see something in the bushes. Suddenly three arrows zip out from the trees above, and explode on impact of the ground before Diamond could even draw her sword. Within the smoke, Diamond is blown back and Shadowmere neighs in distress and trots a few paces back.

Diamond pushes to her feet immediately and readies her weapon. In her solo visit to Whiterun one day, she managed to sneak into the armory and snatch a steel battleaxe. It's powerful and within hours of training in the woods and scaring trees, Diamond now wield the weapons like an extension of her arms.

The shadows coalesce before her into a shrouded figure. Every inch of the skin is wrapped in purple and black cloth. From the shoulders hangs a pale gray cloak. She expects another Faceless to emerge, but as the smoke dissipates, the first immediate difference she notices is the built. Despite the tight wrappings the thickness of the arms and wideness of the shoulders suggested male. Shadows seem to curl about his body like mist off a pond. Also, he wore a mask that covered the lower half of his face where Diamond expected to see a white cloth. His eyes are so deep-set dark blue, a dreaming, sleeping, waiting color.

"Who are you with?" Diamond demands.

"Take a guess." He says as she chucks a trio of daggers at Diamond. They shoot straight with amazing speed. Diamond manages to block them all, but then she notices he has several more clipped to his belt.

"I thought the Faceless only recruited women." Diamond smacks.

"Then you should realize the danger you're in if I'm an exception. It's not about numbers when it comes to the Faceless, it's about skill." The man retorts. Even with his cowl, Diamond snarls as she can see a mocking smile behind the fabric.

"What do you want with me?" Diamond questions.

"Isn't it obvious? Or is your brain so tiny it can't make the simplest connection?" he mocks.

Diamond grits her teeth and despite her urge to bolt forward and attack, she remains rooted in place. Libby always said she lets her enemies easily get under her skin. She needs a clear mind. Diamond learned that on their third mission together one Frostfall. And now she plans to show that Libby's teachings are now branded into her skin now.

The man draws two serrated daggers and spins them between his fingers before taking a fighting stance. Diamond holds the hilt of her weapon and sneers. She shouldn't really call him a man since he looks only a couple years older than her. Possibly Libby's age. He suddenly throws two more daggers, and while Diamond managed to block two, one managed to bite into her skin. She grunts in pain and feels a sharp punch to her cheek before a kick to her stomach that sends her back.

Rolling with the momentum, Diamond manages to come up on one knee. And block the man's feet as it intended to slam into her face. She pushes him off and rolls back as he lands a few feet away. Diamond pulls out the dagger before standing on her feet, keeping most of her weight on the uninjured leg.

"Mm, looks like that hurt." The man says as he charges forward.

"I have a very high pain tolerance." Diamond bites back.

"And I have highly poisonous daggers." He says back.

Diamond blocks his first two jabs, he ducks as she tries to swing at his head, then block again as he tries to slash her face. Diamond kicks his legs out from under him and punches him straight in the jaw. She goes to bring her leg up and the man backflips onto a nearby rock. He rubs his jaw.

"Now that was unexpected. Does this mean the Faceless finally decided to give me a challenge?" he sarcastically asks, though there is a bit of surprise in his tone.

Diamond knows why; she can practically hear what he's thinking. She's small, so she's an easy target, but she is also an assassin, so she's not that easy to beat. He must know she's killed people, so they're on a level playing field.

"That's fine. The other contracts were dull." He finishes.

"Why are they send you after me." Diamond demands.

The man hops down from the rocks and casually strolls towards Diamond. "Because we've heard rumors. And we gave you a warning, which you ceased to ignore. Now you must be given retribution."

Grabbing two daggers, she launches them straight at him, and he blocks one, and flipping back blocks the other. He lands in a somewhat seated position and smiles.

"Not bad for a kid. This might actually get interesting." He mocks.

Diamond feels a sting in her jaw and nearly screams into her teeth. She stumbles back and readies her battleaxe as he goes to slice at her throat. She heavily swings her weapon and he bends forward balancing on his hands. Diamond dances from side to side as his legs spin. She goes to swing again and he pivots on the heel of his hand and pushes off his feet flipping back several feet. He has powerful legs. He drops his serrated blades to throw four more daggers. Diamond blocks them all with the handle of her axe.

"Why don't you tell me your name?" Diamond provokes. "I'd like to get to know you better."

"I have no name." the man replies.

"You said you were faceless, not nameless, now tell me."

Diamond has a feeling that behind that cowl, it hides an amused smile.

"A strong candle." The man says. "My name is Malick."

"I suppose you're not nameless either?" Diamond smirks.

"If you're going to ask questions, at least make them relevant." Malick sneers.

He spins his daggers and lunges towards her. Diamond backflips and brings up her axe to block. Their strengths is matched. Diamond smirks as she pushes to her feet and slowly pushes his weapons off. He's surprised, but he barely shows it.

"You shouldn't judge something by its size." She smiles.

Suddenly he jerks his head forward and Diamond is knocked to the ground. Her grip on her weapon loosens.

"But I can judge by her stupidity." He bites back.

He raises his dagger ready to kill, when Shadowmere kicks him over her. He lands forward but recovers by tucking and rolling, coming up on one knee. Shadowmere stands over Diamond and neighs in fury. He snorts and pounds the ground with his front hoof. Diamond pushes to her feet and holds her side.

"Always good to have a loyal steed." She smirks.

The man's daggers seemed to have scattered as he now draws a steel sword.

"You don't give up easy."

"Now that wouldn't be much fun would it?" Malick says, wisps of shadow floating about him like smoke.

Malick readies his sword and charges forward again, and Diamond readies for a parry, but he sticks his sword into the ground at the last second. Confused, Diamond still swings her battleaxe. He ducks and swerves and as Diamond goes to strike again, he stops it with his hands. The hilt of the axe clasped between his palms, he wrenches it down and simultaneously kicks Diamond in the stomach. As Diamond skips across the dirt and onto her stomach, Malick spins the axe in his hands to mock her.

Diamond struggles to push to her feet and it doesn't help when Malick places his foot on her back, forcing her back down. He lines up the hook of Diamond's axe against her chin. With his free hand, he grabs her ponytail. Diamond clenches her teeth so tight they might crack.

"You're not as pathetic as you look." Malick says.

"Excuse me if I don't seem appreciative of your compliment!" Diamond hisses.

She hears Malick chuckle, then as suddenly as he seemed to grab her hair, he releases her. Her axe sticks into the ground barely missing her nose. Diamond watches as Malick steps in front of her and pulls his sword from the ground. He sheathes it and turns towards Diamond. His ragged cloak pools on the ground as if it were liquid darkness, yet when he steps back, it immediately snaps erect and wraps about his sides.

Malick tugs his hood in a mock salute, then fists bits of his cloak into his hands and snaps it about his body. Diamond watches as his form deteriorate into wisps of darkness. They swirl and billow before retreating into the blackness of the trees.

Shadowmere immediately rushes to Diamond's side and nuzzles his snout into her cheek.

"I'm okay boy, thanks." Diamond breathes as she pushes to her feet. She pries her battleaxe loose and sheathes it to her back. "Why didn't he kill me?" she mumbles to herself.

As she mounts Shadowmere, a sudden pain stabs her side and she nearly fumbles. Hoisting herself onto the steed, she keeps her hand at her side as it throbs.

"The Faceless are more random by the minute." She murmurs.

Snapping the reins, Diamond continues towards the ruins of Snow Veil Sanctum. No encounter by the Faceless is going to deprive her of her drive.

Despite the minor setback, she continues on towards the ruins.


	17. Chapter 17

Snow Veil Sanctum's floor is littered with the bodies of draugr. Diamond is down in the tunnel ways with her Warhammer drawn and ready. But none have popped out of their coffins or stepped down from their sarcophaguses. The only thing she worries about are the traps. She's set off more than one, with bruises and scars to show. She continues onward towards a room with bones on strings dangling from the ceiling. This is the only room where there are draugr still intact, though they seem to be sleeping.

Diamond remembers these things from stumbling into Forsworn camps. Bone chimes. No doubt meant to wake the draugr. Diamond sheathes her warhammer and toggles through the room making sure not to stumble into one. A vigorous healing potion in the corner is highly tempting, thought Diamond resists and continues on. At least this makes the journey easier.

She jogs down the hallway into another larger room with two staircases. One wooden and one stone. Then wooden one seems to lead into another room. The bodies of draugr scatter around and Diamond can tell by the impaled arrows that some of these were Libby's doing. Diamond pries them loose and takes an old Nordic sheath to hold them. By the end of her search, she has nearly thirty ebony arrows. Given she doesn't use a bow much, she decides this once to at least consider it. She pries an old Nordic bow from the hand of a dead draugr and slings it to her back.

Heading up the tone staircase, Diamond sidesteps a dead skeever; black flies blanketing the body. She follows the steps to an iron bar tunnelway. She follows it a Nordic door leading deeper into the catacombs. Diamond internally moans, feeling like she's gone so deep into the earth that her ears have popped. Still she pushes through the door; Libby always was nimble. Slipping past these draugr with Mercer must've been child's play.

Now in the inner sanctum, Diamond sheathes her weapon as she gazes at the empty slots of draugr. More bodies lie on the floor, more arrows lodged in the ones taken out by Libby. Large bowls of coal burn bright, filling the air with a thick smoke, but Diamond doesn't feel an overstuffed sense. Roots and fungi rise up from the ground and snake their way up the walls. Diamond treads carefully, checking for pressure plates.

Diamond tries to ignore the shiver shuddering in her shoulder. She keeps her arms wrapped around herself as they navigate through the long and pale hallway. Passing through the chain gate, Diamond waits when the gate rises and pots fall activating a pressure plate.

Once small arrows fling left and right, Diamond checks left and right before jumping over the plate and continues on.

Left, right, right. Left right left. Right, right. The turns, in order from the point of origin – the room – to the dormitories. Diamond is so disoriented she could never find her way back. Despite the fact that she ascends a few flights of stairs, she still feels like she's descending deeper in the tomb.

She makes on final right and comes to steps leading to double doors. Revealing a candlelit hallway and hieroglyphics of the ancient dragon priests, she walks down the hallway to the end where she passes through double doors and the room opens up. At the epicenter is a platform with a wooden staircase leading up to it.

Diamond looks to her left and finds another open gate. She quickly scours the room and urns before she jogs through the open gate.

She can't fight the suspicious feeling she always gets when she finds already open doors and already empty urns and chests. Dead indications that someone has been there beforehand. Usually it signals for her to be more cautious, but now they're only clues that she's on the right track and navigating properly to Libby's final whereabouts.

Finally she's guided to a hallway where she finds one of the Ancient Nordic puzzle doors. These doors are impenetrable without the matching claw used to decipher the proper code. The hallway depicts pictures of dragon priests rising the dead to do biding. Candles huddled in corners and slink along the walls so that it is properly lit.

"No, no, no. No!" Diamond shouts. She kicks the door and winces as her toe throbs. She runs her fingers through her hair and sighs.

If Libby and Mercer, and even that Karliah chick had passed through here, the door should _at least_ be down for Diamond! And since it's safe to say the claw is gone, and Diamond not an expert lockpick, she's reached a dead end.

All that for nothing.

Diamond slams her fist against the stone doors, feeling the jarring pain vibrate through the bones of her hands. She presses her forehead to the stone as tears sting her eyes. Gritting her teeth, Diamond prepares to scream when she feels the door shift.

Leaping back, Diamond wipes her eyes as the door thumps and drops. She tries not to think about the cobwebs she couldn't see or the pill bugs or brown recluse spiders that might be crawling over her shoes at that very moment. Dust and grit shook down around her, pieces of grime landing in her hair.

The door slides down, stone scraping against stone until it's entirely down. Diamond steps just up to the borderline and peeks her head inside. She looks left and right and up and down.

The room is large with rays of icy moonlight piercing through the crevices of stone. The first thing Diamond notices is snow and stairs. A grand staircase divided by stone heads reaches up three levels leading all the way to the back of the room. A circular opening like in the Cistern of the Guild leaks the light in. Square shafts of white sunlight shone down from a window at the top, a million dust motes dancing in and out of the beams.

As Diamond steps in, she readies her Warhammer. The room was relatively empty with the wind making the only howling. Diamond takes a moment of awe as she rotates in a circle at the grand size of the room. But when she finishes her observation, she stops dead in her tracks.

At the second level of the stairs, wielding two daedric daggers stands a figure of shadows. The ensemble is made of forged midnight with a hood and mask that cover her face. Despite the tight costume and cloak, Diamond can tell by the slenderness of body and the curve of chest that she's dealing with a woman. The only remnance of eyes are tow icy blue pinpricks of light.

Diamond readies her Warhammer. "I assume we'll skip the introductions and move on to the direct approach?"

The figure doesn't respond, instead, she spins the blades of her daggers and leaps high into the air. She goes for Diamond's shoulders, but Diamond blocks with her Warhammer and quickly spins the weapon so that the head slams into the side of the mysterious figure. The figure rolls and comes up on one knee, sprinting towards Diamond without a breath. Diamond backtracks her steps, sheathing her Warhammer and picking three throwing daggers from her belt.

The figure sees this and backflips twice before pushing off her feet and leaping onto the second landing of the stairs. Diamond chucks her daggers as the figure runs along the steps. Two miss, but Diamond throws the final one in advance and just misses the figure's face as she slides under.

Pushing off her feet, the figure leaps into the air. Diamond readies four more daggers as she lands. Throwing them, the cloaked figure blocks them all and jumps, flipping and spinning her daggers out. Diamond flips back missing the blades, and the figure mimics her movements. Spinning them between her fingers, she then throws them. End over end they fly and Diamond snatches and spins her Warhammer hearing the dagger ricochet off.

The second she lower her weapon, the black figure is at her face. She spins, knocking aside the weapon, then bringing her leg up to keep it aside while her other leg rams into Diamond's stomach all within the same motion. Her limbs a blur, she slashes and slashes at Diamond's weapon. Diamond knows that there will be slash marks after this, but thanks to her carrying two-handed weapons, her strength is unmatched. Finally after another slash, Diamond ducks and spins, using her weapon to knock the figure's feet out from under her. Then she leaps back giving a good thirty feet space between them.

Suddenly an arrow barely misses her ear. Diamond jumps and grips the stone. She looks to the girl and snarls. Diamond leaps off raising her Warhammer. The figure shoots arrows at her, to which she blocks and proceeds to slam the head of the hammer down. Though she expects to find flesh, she finds stone. The figure back flips and shoots again. Diamond sprints forward, ducking and spinning her Warhammer before hammering it down. Again, she finds stone, and a kick to the face. Skipping on her back, Diamond rolls with her momentum and pushes off into the air and landing on a stone head on the stairs.

"What do you want?!" Diamond demands.

The figure shakes her head and rises. She looks around and finds Diamond.

"I have no business with you!" Diamond shouts. "So either get out of my way, or this tomb will be your final resting place!"

Diamond watches as the figure sheaths her bow and wraps her cloak about her body, its fabric seemingly made of liquid shadow. A sudden jerk and she is gone, her body exploding into dark fragments that splash across the walls and fade like smoke.

Diamond's mouth agapes and she jumps down. She spins and readies her weapon as she rotates in a circle.

"Have you forgotten about me so soon?" a serpentine voice whispers from just inches behind her neck. Diamond jumps and goes to swing, and there's nothing.

"What, what are you talking about?" Diamond demands.

"You won't cry for my absence, I know. You forgot me long ago." The voice continues. Instead of behind her head, this one seems to come from under her feet.

"Am I that unimportant?" it asks. "Am I so insignificant?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Diamond announces.

"Ask yourself, isn't something missing? You came here seeking something, so you miss something."

The shadows coalesced before her, into the shrouded figure. Up close, she's more ominous looking than expected. Wisps of shadows float off her like smoke. Her cloak pools on the floor as if it is liquid darkness, yet when she steps back, it immediately snaps erect and wraps about her sides.

Diamond readies her weapon, though this time the figure doesn't flinch. She doesn't reach for a weapon or draw her bow. She just stands there.

"I'm not very good with riddles so why don't you just tell me what you want to get you out of my way!" Diamond shouts.

She watches the figure's shoulders slightly shrug in and shake her head. Listening closely, she hears her chuckling.

"You never were the brightest person." The figure chuckles.

"You don't know who I am!" Diamond counters.

"Really, Diamond? You know, if you turn your head, I could probably see clear through your ears." The figure giggles.

_Wait a second, how'd she know my name_? Diamond falters her stance, and stands up straight.

"H-how did you know my name?" Diamond stutters.

The figure giggles, then reaches up. She's hesitant at first, but she pulls off her hood and removes the mask from her face.

Diamond's Warhammer drops to the floor. Its clattering echoes in the empty chamber.

Shrugging the rest of her hair out from under the hood, it calls in curtains of curls about her shoulders. Strands of her bangs stick to her forehead in sweat, and her green eyes shine brighter surrounded by so much dark. She gives Diamond the slightest smile, and nervously narrows her eyebrows.

"Uh, surprise." Libby says.

Libby.

She's alive. Diamond was right.

Diamond was _right_.

Libby is _alive_.

They stand in silence as Diamond gawks at Libby like she's a ghost. Libby opens her mouth to say something, but closes it just as quickly.

"I, I know what you're going to say, Diamond." Libby says, her voice smooth, but her hands are slightly quaking. "how could I have done this to you? Make you think I was dead, and, now reveal like this. But I promise that, I'll explain everything, if you give me the chance. Though I, I understand if you don't . . ."

Libby is cut off as Diamond crashes into her. She half expects it to be a tackle so that Diamond could have her fists flail in fury at Libby. And Libby would let her, but nothing happens.

Instead, Diamond wraps her arms around Libby's neck. Diamond couldn't have stopped the smile if she tried. Nor could she have stopped herself from launching into Libby's arm with a strange sound from the back of her throat. A mixture of surprise, happiness and a sob.

Diamond's fingers clench around Libby's shoulder, and she slowly curls towards her until she's buried her face against Libby's chest. Libby cradles Diamond to her.

Diamond begins to shake like she's been caught out in a snowstorm in nothing but a tunic.

She's here.

Alive.

Warm and steady beneath her.

_I haven't lost everything_. Diamond smiles.

"You fricken asshole." She whimpers.

Diamond can practically feel the missing pieces inside of her slide firmly back into place as Libby pets her head and kisses the crown of her head.

Libby guides Diamond out of the crypt, keeping hold of her hand as they pass through the back entryway. It was daylight when Diamond entered the crypt, now the night sky has completely dominated the sky. White stars pierce the dark sky with their light, and clouds border around a full moon. Libby's horse is parked there and she first helps Diamond mount before leaping on herself.

"So, as you can imagine, I have like a million questions for you!" Diamond hollers over the howl of the wind.

"I know, and I'll explain everything when we get home." Libby shouts back.

"Home? What home? In Riften?"

"Nope."

* * *

Diamond wasn't sure what she had expected of Libby's safe house upon first arriving there, but the elegant mansion surrounded by mountains and water certainly wasn't it. Upon arriving, there is a stable off to the left, a drafting table with a grinder, smelter and garden along the right wall of the house. On the left is an animal pen and a deck that leads up to the second level of the mansion.

She now sits in the main hall at the long dining table overflowing with food. One whole roasted cow with fruits in its mouth lies in wait. Huge platters of fowl stuffed with savory fruits and nuts. Ocean creatures drizzled in sauces or begging to be dipped in spicy concoctions. Countless cheeses, breads, vegetables, sweets, waterfall of wine, and streams of spirits that flicker with flames.

It would all seem delicious, if it weren't for the fact that Diamond is sitting directly across from Karliah.

She sits eating away at her food, wearing the same black amour as Libby, and acting as if nothing is wrong. She saws at her roasted venison and pops the meat into her mouth. Libby had gone to the kitchen to bring out dessert. She and Diamond still haven't talked about why and how Libby is still alive, and what had really happened. Though Diamond had pieced parts of it together.

Mercer had tried to kill Libby. That much Diamond new, but why? Libby has been nothing but loyal to Mercer and Guild for as long as she has lived. Is it because he felt threatened about his position as Guild Master?

Diamond shifts in her seat and keeps staring at Karliah. All that Libby had said is that Karliah can be trusted. There hasn't been much talk between them and Diamond is torn between trying small talk, but then there would be awkward pauses, and it would just feel weird.

Finally Libby comes out with a tray of Apple cakes, Snowberry cupcakes, Sweetrolls and pies and cakes with elegant floral frosting decorated on them. She and Karliah still wear their uniforms with their hoods down, and Diamond feels a sting of jealousy as it would appear they're close. Libby sets the tray of sweets on the table and takes a seat.

"Okay, so you probably have a lot of questions. So just, ask away. No holding back." Libby says.

Diamond opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. She close her mouth and thinks. Karliah doesn't make any comments but keeps eating away at her venison. After she pats her lips, she speaks.

"I assume your first questions involve me. And I'm certain from your weary look that Mercer has told you his version of the story?" Karliah states.

"Okay, we'll start from there." Libby says. "First off, a little history."

Diamond rests her elbows on the table and accepts a glass of water after Libby pours out three for each of them.

"When I was younger, there was a Guild Master by the name of Gallus. He was a master thief and scholar and a natural born leader. He was the one in charge and everyone respected him. One day, he was murdered by Mercer Frey, and framed Karliah for it. The Guild was thrown into disarray when he was killed, and the Ratway became a bloodbath. Finally when it was all over, over the years Mercer claimed title as the new Guild Master." Libby explains.

Diamond bites the inside of her lip. "So, it sounds like a lot of attention is focused on Mercer, Karliah and this Gallus dude. Why were you three so important?" Diamond directs towards Karliah.

"We were part of an elite trinity of thieves, known as the Nightingales. The Nightingales are a secret inner circle within the Thieves Guild." Karliah explains.

"Any reason as to why Mercer would kill Gallus?" Diamond asks.

"Well, you know how the Guild's been having a run of bad luck?" Libby asks. Diamond nods. "Well, it turns out that Mercer has been stealing from the Guild's treasury for years, even back to when Gallus was still alive."

Diamond's eyes widen.

"Gallus was just on the brig of exposing Mercer to the Guild until he was murdered." Libby continues. "And Karliah has been trying for years to finished Gallus's work."

"Okay, well that explains you, but what about you, Libby?" Diamond asks. "Where do you fit in all this? If you said you were young around this time, why are you so, determined?"

Libby folds her lips in, and turns to Karliah. Karliah smiles and nods her head.

"What?"

Libby sighs and folds her fingers together, her thumb brushing her own skin as a form of self-comfort. "The former Guild Master, Gallus . . . he . . . he was my father."

Diamond feels her entire skin grow cold and numb. Her legs prickle with goosebumps and her mouth opens in agape. She tries to speak, but no words come. She shakes her head as if to shake out the dust and tries to order her thoughts.

"Wait, wait, wait. You told me your parents were murdered."

"I didn't lie about the murdered part. But yeah, I didn't know until I was in my teen years. And apparently, everyone knew." Libby says.

"Okay, but why didn't you tell _me_ this?" Diamond asks.

"It's . . . it's complicated. But the most delicate way I can put it, is that it's personal. Gallus was my father, and I needed to avenge him. It's one of those annoying 'I have to do this for myself' kind of things."

"Okay, okay I can respect that." Diamond agrees. "And does that explain no why Mercer tried to kill you? Because he knew about you two and Gallus?"

"No, Mercer has always just had this hate for me simply because I'm Gallus's daughter. And probably because he knew Karliah would contact me in the future and just decided to wait for the right time to get me alone and kill me." Libby explains. "Though, this time, Karliah and I are one step ahead of him."

"What do you mean?"

"I was the one who lured Mercer into Snow Veil Sanctum, but since we knew it was only a matter of time before Mercer would kill me next, we decided to give him the opportunity." Karliah says.

"Karliah and I were already in contact long before any of this happened." Libby says.

"I shot Libby making Mercer think that I was on my own, and have him believe he killed Libby so that we could scour the rest of our plan in private." says Karliah.

"Which brings me to my next question. Why not tell me?!" Diamond exclaims. Her voice having a sudden pipe of anger.

"Because we wanted it to all be genuine. If had told you, it wouldn't have been as believable." Libby answers.

"Are you saying I'm not a good actress?" Diamond says pretending to be shocked.

"Yes."

"Aw, come on! I'm awesome at acting!" Diamond says.

"No you're not." Libby shuts down.

"Whatever." Diamond giggles. Finally some familiar banter between them. "So, are you a Nightingale now?"

Libby nods and looks to Karliah. "Libby is the first of the uninitiated to set foot in the hall in over a hundred years."

"There's a hall? Can I see it?!" Diamond squeals in excitement.

"Sorry Diamond, thieves only. And now that I'm a Nightingale, I'm sworn to secrecy." Libby laughs.

"Phooey." Diamond pouts. "Okay, well so, what now?"

"Well, now Karliah and I are going to go to Riften and confront Mercer and the Guild." Libby sighs, obviously not too excited about it.

"What?! Seriously?!"

"Well, maybe after a goodnight sleep, a healthy breakfast, morning exercises . . ."

"Libby," Karliah interjects. "You can't be backing out now."

"No! No, it's just . . . I'm nervous."

"That's alright. I understand, but you need to understand that we must do this for Gallus." Karliah persuades.

Libby nods. "I know." She mumbles.

"I'm going to retire to my chambers, give you two some time to catches up." Karliah nods to Diamond and heads upstairs.

Libby and Diamond look to one another and Libby nods towards the master bedroom behind Diamond. She gets up and Diamond follows. Closing the doors behind them, Diamond plops onto the plush bed and sighs in exhaustion.

"A lot to take in?" Libby teases.

"Too much." Diamond mumbles.

"Are you mad?" Libby asks as she sits on the edge of the bed.

"Well, I was, but I wasn't." Diamond sits up and folds her legs. "I mean, I had a feeling."

Libby smiles. "You found my little hint."

Diamond smiles and pulls out the Stone of Barenziah. She opens the lid and the stone floats up from its purple velvet cushions and spins in place. Diamond hands it to Libby, and Libby takes it putting it in the safe to the left of the bed.

She then plops down onto the bed. "So, enough about me. What's happened with you?!" she suddenly exclaims with excitement.

Diamond laughs. "Okay well, girl you need to hear this. . ."

They spend nearly all night talking and catching up and telling one another each thing that's happened. Diamond's mission for the Emperor, her killing Vittoria Vici, talking to Cynric.

"Figures, I'm 'dead' and you finally talk to him." Libby nudges with a smile.

"It didn't even matter! I was depressed because I thought you were dead!" Diamond defends. "It shouldn't even count."

"Yes it should and it does!" Libby counters.

It's one o'clock in the morning by the time the girls even decide to consider sleep. After a few minutes of silence, Diamond's soft snoring fills the room. Libby pulls the covers over Diamond gently and slowly rounds the other side where she burrows into the blankets. She turns to Diamond. With her hair down, strands fall along her face and flay as she exhales. Libby brushes the hair away from her face, gently, so she doesn't wake Diamond.

Another reason why Libby lies to Diamond it to protect her. She's sixteen, she's still young. But then again, they're both young.

As a gentle snore emanates from Diamond's lips, Libby feels a tug of guilt in her chest. Diamond doesn't need her protection. She's strong enough on her own.

Libby sits at the table in the middle of the room, fathering a stack of books into a pile and shoving them into a trunk. She sticks a quill back into the inkbottle and rolls up a piece of paper, the placing it on the shelf. Diamond looks to find one of the bedroom doors open, yet no sign of Karliah.

Diamond stretches and saunters out of bed. "I've been trying not to ask you, but I'm giving up." she says. "Have you and Karliah been longer friends than you and I?"

Libby, in the middle of writing, gives Diamond a look.

"What? I'm curious. I mean you said you've been in contact with her long before Gallus's murder." Diamond says. "That's long."

It's sunny today, the light glowing through the white curtains. She doesn't know how, but the mansion smells like home – like everyone's natural scent, and food cooking in the pot and morning milk. Some of the beds are made, and some still have rumpled sheets bunched up at the bottom or the side.

"You may not believe me, but it's not like that." Libby props an elbow on the table. "For twenty-five Karliah has been running from Mercer. She didn't have much time to contact me. Especially since I am in and the Guild and Mercer runs it, I'd hear from her maybe, once every five months. She's still grieving."

"I, I guess. I was just curious."

"What? Are you jealous?"

"What? No! Why can't I be curious and not get declared jealous?!" Diamond counters.

"Okay, okay. No need to get defensive." Libby says. She gets up from her seat. "Well, I'm going to have some breakfast. Hey, won't Astrid have your head if you're not back yet?"

"No, nah, she'll be fine." Diamond assures.

"When you supposed to meet Gabbi?" Libby asks.

"A couple days ago."

"Diamond!"

"Well! I was supposed to meet her, but I was just thinking, 'I don't want to deal with this' so I left. And I left to peruse you!" Diamond defends.

"Okay good enough. Do you guys even have like, deadlines?" Libby asks as she stirs the stew in the cooking pot.

"Eh, depends." Diamond says wavering her hand.

"Maybe it's just me. You know about the strict deadlines we have."

"Oh, I know." Diamond takes a seat at the table and presses one foot to the ground to lean her chair back. "So, Karliah home?"

"Probably not. Like I said, she can't sleep in the same place more than once."

"Honestly, she sounds a little paranoid." Diamond says.

"Maybe, but Mercer hasn't caught her yet. So whatever she's doing, it's working." Libby defends. "I'm supposed to meet her outside the Ragged Flagon tonight. And ready to expose Mercer to the Guild."

"You nervous?"

Libby doesn't hesitate before answering. "Very. But, I need to keep my head, and just remember that this is for my Dad."

"You want me there?" Diamond asks.

Libby pours two bowls of Apple Stew before answering. "Yes. I do. I want you to be, like another witness to defend Karliah. The Guild doesn't trust her and I just feel like it'll take more than my story to convince them. I just need you there."

Diamond bats her eyes and giggles. "Aw, why thank you. I have been known to be very persuasive."

Libby laughs and shakes her head. "We'll meet there tonight. Maybe by then you'll have done your mission and Astrid will be off your back for at least a little while longer."

"Okay. Sounds good. So are you leaving now?" Diamond asks.

"Uh yeah. I was going to head to Falkreath to stock up on weapons. You want to come?" Libby invites.

"Eh, sure!"

After finishing breakfast, Libby changes uniform and the girls depart towards the small hold on horseback. Libby comments about Shadowmere and Diamond explains how he was given to her from Astrid. They talk doesn't seem to stop even when they arrive at the hold. Libby purchase more Daedric arrows and ebony arrows while Diamond debates on trading her Elven Warhammer for an Ostrich. Slinging the quiver of arrows over her back, Libby secures her bow and they gather their horses at the front gate.

"Ugh, I don't want to leave!" Diamond whines.

"I know, I hate to do this too. But you need to make sure Astrid doesn't crack down on you for slacking." Libby reminds.

"I don't give a crap! I just found out you're alive; I don't care about no Emperor!"

Libby laughs and gathers Diamond in a hug. "Don't worry, Karliah and I will wait for you. But don't take too long. If she hangs out around the Flagon too long they might get suspicious."

Diamond nods.

"Oh! And one more thing."

She gathers Diamond near her horse and pulls out a map. Diamond can't help but notice that it has an eerie glowing aura around it. Libby opens up her map and Diamond leans over her shoulder to peek. Diamond's eyes widen as markers of the hold begin to fade onto the paper as well as caves and towers and crypts.

"What? How did you do that?" Diamond asks.

"I didn't, Enthir did. Dad's friend at the College of Winterhold. He gave me this special map to fast-travel to places I've already discovered." Libby explains. "And, I was able to make a copy."

Diamond's eyes widen and she begins to hop with excitement. Libby hands her another glowing map and Diamond opens it, but frowns. There weren't that many marker son her map as Libby's.

"What the heck?!" Diamond exclaims.

"Well, you don't explore as much as me." Libby reminds.

"Bleh." Diamond pouts. "Well, so, how does this work?"

"Well, you just sat the name of the place you want to go, or just point to it on the map, and it'll glow, and show the name." Libby explains.

She points to the Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary and it's black with a shimmering outline to it.

"Wow."

"Then you just say the name and close your eyes."

"So wait, does yours have the Brotherhood on it?"

"Nope. Only places you've been to. And if you happen to drop it, don't worry, everyone else will only see a blank map."

"Man this is so cool!" Diamond chirps in excitement.

"Use responsibly." Libby smiles. "Remember to meet us outside the Flagon by nightfall."

"Course!"

The girls share a hug and Diamond makes sure that she gives an extra squeeze so that she familiarizes herself with the feeling of Libby's hugs; now that she's back, Diamond plans to remembers every feeling and laugh and smile and every good memory they have. When they mount their horses, they go their opposite ways and Diamond looks back and waves, mouthing I love you, and pretending to be heartbroken. Libby laughs and waves back and continues on her trail.

Diamond walks her path south for the next hour; stopping every other hour to stretch her legs and snatch some game. She's about a mile out from Falkreath, the weather turning to overcast.

As Shadowmere rounds a curve on the main road, s tingle crawls up Diamond's spine. She senses the danger before it happens. Maybe it was a shift in the wind, or the hollow sound of metal, but she leaps off of Shadowmere as a throwing star embeds into the saddle. Diamond tumbles to the dirt but rolls coming up on one knee.

She reaches behind her and feels her bow strapped to her back. Diamond mentally swears. Her Warhammer is strapped to the side of Shadowmere's saddle. Diamond looks and finds the horse standing calm a few yards away.

Pushing to her feet, Diamond hears someone land behind her and readies her bow. Better than nothing.

It was a member of the Faceless from the cloak and wrappings, and judging from the built, it was Malick.

Diamond can't help but cockily smile. "You know, if you wanted another date, you had but to ask."

"Hmph, you wish I was here for that." Malick responds, Diamond can tell behind the cloth covering his face that he's sneering. His mask now replaced by a white cloth.

"Then what else is there?"

Without answering, Malick draws two ebony daggers, spinning them blade out and charging for Diamond. Diamond draws an arrow and shoots. Malick weaves out of the way and slashes aside the others. Diamond continues to fast-shoot only to watch him slash and slice them like nothing.

"If you want this fight to be good, stop playing around." Malick says.

Diamond snarls and charges forward, shooting an arrow at him. When he blocks it, she's leaping over him and to Shadowmere. She makes it to the horse and switches her weapons. She barely misses a dagger that slice a few strands of her hair. Shadowmere neighs and bolts forward. Spinning her Warhammer, Diamond readies as Malick approaches spinning his dagger between his fingers.

Diamond quickly throws two daggers to distract him while she grabs an explosive from her belt. As he blocks the second dagger, Diamond throws the bomb and it explodes on impact. Malick coughs as smoke erupts around him. Diamond hears the thump of a body on the ground seconds later. His daggers scatter and Diamond makes sure to kick them aside as she carefully approaches.

As she's within her second step, Malick flinches, kicking Diamond's legs out from under her and spins up to one knee.

"Cloth is enchanted. Acts like a built in filter." He smugly says.

Diamond grits her teeth as her back slaps the ground. She brings her leg up and goes to kick him. Malick grabs it, but Diamond spins and jabs his shoulder. As Diamond's feet plant on the ground, he suddenly grabs both her wrists and pins them behind her back. Diamond instantly rams her head back and nails his chin, though the pain prickles along the crown of her head.

Malick's grip loosens and she wrenches herself free. Diamond spins to meet him face to face, and can see a dot of red begin to spread around his nose area.

Then someone grabs her from behind.

Diamond starts to scream, but a hand claps over her mouth. It smells like soap and it's big enough to cover the lower half of her face. She thrashes, but the arms holding her are too strong, and she bites down on one of the fingers.

"Ow!" a shrill voice cries.

Someone shoves a sack over her head while someone else pushes her against a tree. Diamond struggles to breathe and thrashes against them. Struggling with the fabric covering her face, there are at least two hands on her arms, dragging her forward, and one on her mouth. All she can think of is screaming for Libby, but the cloth sucks into her mouth whenever she breathes in, keeping her screams in. Her chest hurts. She can't resist three people on her own.

She can feel hands cuff her wrists and she's pushed in different directions, stumbling over her own feet. She tries to see through the fibers of whatever is over her head, but they are too dense and it is too dark. A part of her assumes someone will see her, but then again, if they do see anything, no one will stop them. Diamond's heart drops in her stomach. They walk for several minutes, shoving her down as she continuously struggles. She tries to see the world ahead of her, relying on nothing but the outlines of what she can make out.

The darkness of the woods obscures anything that would normally be recognizable. Diamond can't tell how long they've been walking, but the sound of Shadowmere's hooves against the ground says that wherever they're going, either she's not coming back, or it's too far to leave him behind. At least they have the decently to bring him along.

Soon Diamond hears the click of a door handle she hears it swing open, blowing the sack against her cheeks, and she hears the wind howling around her.

"What the fuck do you want with me?!" Diamond demands.

"Shut up and keep walking!" Malick hisses.

As they get closer she manages to spot a dark circle. The closer they get, the more she can tell it's an opening. To something. Like a hideout.

Terror rips a white-hot path through Diamond's body, and she can barely breathe. Strong fingers grip her arms and shoulders. They lift her and Diamond flails uncontrollably as her feet try to find the ground again. Being blind is the scariest thing.

Her feet pound something, and it's stone. She tries to wrench away and nearly falls as the stone dips down. A strong arm – most likely Malick's arm wraps protectively around her shoulder. Stairs. Diamond tries to feel and hears the stone scratch under her weight. It's leading into something. Normally Diamond would shrug off their hands, but since she's blind and doesn't know what she's getting into, she grips their hands as they guide her. She's walking with three strangers on her heels. Then she's harshly shoved through the door archway, and it takes the small fire and rectangular outlines to realize she's entering a room. They take three steps in before they let go of Diamond with a shove that propels her backward further into the room.

The kidnappers make sure to strip her of her Warhammer. Diamond's knees threaten to collapse beneath her. She stumbles over her own feet and crumples to the floor, twisting her body in midair so she lands with her back facing it the exit. The sack covering her head is yanked off, letting air infect her nose. The light temporarily blinds her, but once everything focuses, it reveals a throne room. The stone around them dilutes the evening sun into something dim and grey. A woman wrapped in black and purple braces herself against the doorway and stands, a serrated dagger in hand. A thin white cloth covering the gap left for her eyes.

The room consists of a single chair up on a three-step platform, and a fireplace on the one side. A bed occupies the far corner, and an alchemy lab and arcane enchanter the other. Apart from a wardrobe and dresser, Diamond would've thought this is some kind of work room. A closed door is behind the throne chair.

The door suddenly opens, and another Faceless member steps out. Educated guess, she's the leader. Diamond scrambles to her feet.

"Zusa, we brought the girl you wanted." The one faceless guarding the door speaks.

"Though I don't know why. Seems like a waste." Malick chimes.

"I don't pay you to give opinions, Malick." Zusa, speaks.

Diamond looks ahead and sees the woman take one step down from the platform. Her cloak is a deep purple with shadows tendrils swirling about it. Though it tries to obscure it, Diamond can tell that her body bends and curves like it's supposed to.

"I pay you to obey orders. And you need to make sure you handle my, precious gem with more care." The woman sneers.

Diamond's face goes from blank to feral in a heartbeat. She curls her lips into a fierce snarl. Before she can stop herself, Diamond whips her knife out of its sheath, raises it above her head and rushes toward the woman. Diamond is screaming, harsh bursts of sound that flay the air.

Zusa flips back and whips one arm up. Diamond suddenly feels three sharp tips pierce her chest; one misses her heart by mere inches. Diamond swings her dagger, but Zusa weaves out of the way. Diamond's vision begins to blur and then Diamond realizes the darts are poisoned. She squeezes her eyes shut and shakes her head. Her stomach churns as everything blurs together.

Diamond still strikes but misses, then when Zusa's leg suddenly twitches, nailing Diamond in the jaw. This pain is different, less like a stab and more like a crackle, crackling in her brain, spotting her vision with different colors, blue, green, red. Then her vision goes lack at the edges.

The next thing she feels is her hair yanked, and it falls around her face. Then the harsh smack of stone scraping beneath her cheeks.

"Well you certainly showed the limit of your poison immunity." Zusa smiles.

Diamond can't move her arm to even push the strands of her hair out of her face. She lies on her side and winces, gritting teeth as she tries to move.

"Such a fighting spirit. I like that."

"Wha- What do -" Diamond struggles to say.

"Hush, my child." Zusa presses a wrapped finger to Diamond's lip. "I think you'll make a fine member to my collection. The fire of my cause burns deep within you. You can do better than that shameful Brotherhood."

Diamond grinds her teeth so hard together they might shatter.

"Go to hell!" she mumbles.

Zusa smiles, at least, Diamond thinks she does. She lifts her hand and cups Diamond's cheek and lifts it ever so slightly off the ground. Her thumb strokes Diamond's cheek. With the poison spreading into her veins, Diamond can't fight back. She can barely move her lips as she's lost all feeling.

Zusa places Diamond's cheek back on the ground and suddenly, lifts the cloth and untwists the wrappings about her head.

Diamond startles at the woman revealed beneath the wrappings. She is gorgeous by anyone's standards. Full lips, smooth cheeks, and vibrant eyes. Their deep color reminds Diamond of pine needles. Zusa runs a hand through her short dark hair, pulling out tangles, no easy task given how tightly it has been restricted and how covered with sweat it is. Yet she is striking without even trying. Diamond can feel both jealousy and annoyance.

The thought of beauty stings her deeply. No one thinks of her beautiful.

"You're . . ." Diamond starts to say, envious of her for a moment, but then realizes how ridiculous is sounds.

"I know." Zusa says. "Trust me . . . I know."

Zusa takes Diamond's cheek again, cupping it in the palm of her hand.

"You have a beauty as well, and ferocious spirit that has been wounded. I can tell. Still you fight. Determination? Or impulsiveness? Either way, I will have you." Zusa smiles.

"I don't belong to anybody." Diamond snarls.

"I'll see to that. A beautiful gem like you is, rough around the edges. Join me, Diamond."

Suddenly Zusa leans in and presses her mouth to Diamond's. Diamond's eyes widen, yet her body relaxes. Her lips move in a smooth motion as if drinking away all of Diamond's anger. Her tongue slips past Diamond's lips, but not before it glides along Diamond's lower lip. Diamond whimpers, and Zusa drinks that too. When she pulls back, she licks her lips.

"Join me, Diamond." She repeats. "And I can teach you to shine."

Diamond still wrinkles her nose in disgust.

"You will belong to me." Zusa says, nearly promising.

She lets go of Diamond's face and turns. Her cape brushes the floor with a whisper.

"Take her away." Zusa demands.

Seconds later, hands grab Diamond and lift her from the ground. They cradle her, and given she's frozen, Dimaond can only gaze at the wall on the other side of the arm. She clenches her teeth as the tears come.

What is wrong with this group? Why are they so interested in her? What do they have against the Brotherhood?

Diamond is fed up. But there isn't much she can do to stop them.

Her head pounds, as if her thoughts are clustered and crammed into her skull. She rests her head against the chest of whoever carries her.

Diamond fists her hand, and imagines crushing the Faceless inside it.


	18. Chapter 18

Diamond wakes on a large bed stuffed draped with the layers of silk sheets. Bandages wrap the cuts across her body, every one of them stinging like a freshly open wound. The room is dark and without windows, but light from the hallway creeps in through the crack of the door, allowing her to see.

She wakes to aches and pains. She cringes as she sits up, holding her ribs. Pulling the blanket off, she blinks to steady her vision and tries to stand. Her legs wobble and her head suddenly feels like it's filled with helium. She sits back down and tries to suppress the wave of nausea boiling inside her stomach. When was the last time she ate?

Suddenly the room brightens and Diamond shields her eyes. There's the sound of a match striking then the room slowly grows warm with light. Footsteps enter and Diamond blinks to regain her vision.

"Glad to see you're finally up." a voice speaks. Diamond freezes when she hears that it's a male voice.

Diamond looks up to find a man shirtless with his back facing her. Beside his feet is a sack made out of a pillow case and rope. Instantly Diamond's face reddens and she covers her face with her hands. Still she peeks through her fingers and peers at the simple yet detailed designs of the tattoo. It curves just under his shoulder blades before it turns upwards into spirals. His muscles expand and contract as he reaches into a mahogany dresser drawer and pulls out a simple grey shirt.

Diamond is about to open her mouth to ask who he is, until she remembers there's only one male member of the Faceless. Malick. As he turns, Diamond's mouth drops open and her eyes widen without her consent.

Malick was tall and muscular with blonde hair that overlaps his forehead. Peeking out behind some strands, Diamond can see his ears with a simple black earlobe piercing. The tattoo continues over his shoulders and across his chest. The ink glides under his collarbone and delicately curves just at the top of his ribcage, several swoops coil down his biceps. He stands, shirtless, holding a grey shirt. His brown eyes finally meet hers and he raises an eyebrow.

Diamond clamps her mouth closed and clears her throat. "Malick?"

"You recognized me. Seems like you're finally dusting the cobwebs off your brain." He says.

Diamond instantly floods with anger and pushes to her feet. She's about to say something back when her head pounds harshly and she's forced to sit back down. She holds her head and tries to breathe deeply to relieve the pain.

"Take it easy, hot-shot." Malick continues. "The poison's still working its way out of your system."

"Thanks, I didn't realize that." Diamond sarcastically snaps back.

"Of course you didn't." Malick finishes.

Diamond growls but forces herself to stand as the pain slowly subsides. She lifts her head and realizes she's in a large bedroom. The room resembles the size of the sanctuary except it's square and without walls to divide it.

The walls are a peaceful, calm color with naturist wall ornaments and a huge tiered crystal chandelier dripping from the ceiling. The floors are mainly wood with a thick plush carpet stretching the length of the room. There's a large floor to ceiling window with cross-hatched X's along the glass. The thick gold-and-red velvet draperies spilling from the window, like motionless crimson waterfalls. Enormous tapestries hung over the walls. Marble floor-to-ceiling pillars stand at every corner of the room, while a large fireplace plays as centerpiece of the room; a gold clock the only thing on the mantle. Around the fireplace are couches and armchairs with delicate designs and embroidered pillows.

There's a mahogany hutch, wardrobe and dresser all together on one wall with a vanity across the way. Next to the bed is an end table with a glass of water. The bed itself is a four-post, canopy bed with elegant curtains tied to the posts. When not tied, Diamond assumes that they can be pulled closed for privacy.

Diamond drapes her legs over the edge of the bed and looks down when her toes don't touch the floor. She hops off and stretches her legs.

"So, I'm still in the Faceless Headquarters?" Diamond asks.

"No you're in the bedroom of the Jarl of Whiterun."

"Can't you just answer my questions?" Diamond snarls.

"Can you not ask stupid questions and use your common sense?" Malick retorts.

Diamond clamps her mouth shut to stop from shouting at him. Not only is her voice rough enough as it is, if she yells, she's bound to reactivate the pounding headache. So she merely walks up to the vanity mirror; trying not to stare at Malick as he dumps a pale blue tunic into the pillowcase sack. As expected, there is a dark blur bruise on her cheek; and something else. Diamond freezes and her eyes widen when she finds her hair in a partially messy braid and her Brotherhood uniform dyed. What was red on her uniform is now a dark purple.

She whirls around to Malick. "Who put me in this?!" she demands.

Malick looks to her casually and despite his eyebrows raisin, his eyes stay calm and laidback. "I'm not touching that with a ten foot stick."

"Who did this?!" Diamond yells, her eyes water from the pain in her head, but no tears spill over.

"You're one of us now, sister. Be appreciative Zusa let you live." Malick says.

"Why did she?" Diamond hisses. "I hate this place! And I hate her!"

"You think I know? I was the one who voted to have you killed. But Zusa, somehow thinks you have potential to be one of us."

Diamond fists her hands to keep from wrapping them around Malick's throat. She knows she's too weak and in pain to start a fight now, yet she hates how she can't shut him up. She could ask why he doesn't just kill her now. Only to realize he'll answer with something like: 'I don't want to mess with Zusa, or I don't do favors.'

So Diamond sighs in aggravation as she walks back over to the bed. She sits with her elbows to her knees, head braced between her hands. She can feel Malick's gaze on her, and despite the urge of wanting to cry, no tears come. Her aggression and hatred and anger towards the Faceless devours her urge to cry. Diamond looks back to Malick as he shrugs the grey shirt up over his head.

"So, who _are_ the Faceless, Malick?" Diamond asks, her mouth tasting bitter after saying his name.

Malick coldly chuckles as he ruffles his hair. "You really are a blonde aren't you? I swear if you turn your head, I can see clear through your ears."

"Just answer my question!"

Malick takes his sweet time to adjust his shirt and fix his hair before answering. "We, are an elite group of shadowy assassins. And we're very good at what we do. We kill for justice and for the vengeance of women in Skyrim."

"You also seem to be quite the loudmouths as well." Diamond snaps. "So, if they're supposed to be a group of women, what makes _you_ the exception? Are you gay or something?"

Malick secures the rope around the pillowcase and double knots it. He looks Diamond straight in the eye, and she can't help but shiver at how intense they appear. Instead of a simple brown, they appear to be a glimmering copper. Perhaps even a gold topaz.

"I rescued a group of women from a brothel."

Diamond's throat suddenly tightens, and when she tries to swallow, it feels as if there's a wad of cotton stuck. Her hands grow cold and a shiver runs down her spine.

"The man running the brothel was abusive to the girls. However way you picture it, it was like that, and worse." Malick continues. "I was part of a Stormcloak group and we entered the tavern one night after hours. I was against it from the start, but they brought me along for backup. When one girl came up to me, she whispered in my ear to come to her chambers."

Malick shifts so his arms are crossed and he's leaning against the dresser.

"When I got there, she sat me down and told me about the abuse towards the girls in this club. I was so mad she barely finished before I got up and stormed out of the room. I went down and sliced the throats of my own squad members, then I went for the bastard who owns the club, and sliced his head off with his fancy pen." Malick continues.

Diamond feels her shoulders shudder, but instead of feeling fear, she feels a warm bur blooming in her chest. He saved women from an abusive man _and_ lifestyle; even if it meant killing his own men.

"Were you ever charged?" Diamond asks.

"They never found the bodies. The girls took the blame saying it was for self-defense, including for the manager."

Diamond's eyes widen. "They took the blame? For all of it?"

"Yes, pay attention. Anyway, I managed to slip out of the city and I was recruited by the Faceless, maybe, a month later." Malick finishes.

"So, how old are you?" Diamond asks.

"I'm nineteen."

"And how long have you been with the Faceless since the . . . incident." Diamond asks.

"I've been with them about, a year." Malik answers.

Diamond stares at the floor for a second. "You were only seventeen." He nearly whispers.

Malick look to her and blinks. "Yep. And congrats, you managed to complete the math without cracking your skull." He slyly smiles.

Diamond snarls, but she says, "Well now I can't really take that asshole act, despite how great you are at it."

"Who says it's an act?"

"What you did; for those girls. That was, nice of you. Not even nice. Heroic. So are you, a good guy?" Diamond asks.

Malick looks to her, and she managed to get his eyes to widen slightly with surprise. She expects a smart remark, so she can't help but blush when she hears him chuckle. The sound is soft and breathy, but she could still hear it. Malick looks to her with a smile on his lips and Diamond preys her cheeks don't betray her. He chuckles again before leaving the room.

Diamond half expects him to lean into the doorway and give her an answer, but he never returns.

_What the hell_?! She thinks. _He never answered, so what's that supposed to mean_?! _What the hell_?!

Diamond groans and flops her back to the bed and rubs her eyes. She tries to think of the answer herself, with no avail. If he saved the girls, that makes him good. But if he's an assassin, he's bad, but the Faceless kill for the vengeance of women, does that make him good? Diamond yells and chucks a pillow off the bed. Without caring where it lands, she hears a yelp. Diamond sits up to find another young woman, about her age standing at the dresser with an armful of clothes.

"Well, looks like you're getting your strength back." She says.

She has different shades of blue in her hair falling past her choppy bangs. She wears the wrappings of the Faceless with a dark purple cloak about her shoulders. Her wrappings were different from the others of the Faceless. They are thin and you can see half of some kind of black bra. Then the wrappings gap a little at her stomach, revealing a belly ring and a tattoo. It is black and tribal looking and surrounds her belly button. And judging from the bulges in her legs, she has powerful legs.

Diamond watches as she sets the pile of clothes into the drawer Malick just emptied. She then closes the drawer, leaving out a simple black shift for Diamond. She walks over and hands it to Diamond. Diamond takes it and sets it aside.

"So, you feeling any better?" the girl asks. "Oh, I'm Veera, by the way."

She extends out a hand, and Diamond debates on whether to shake it. The girl gives a gentle smile and despite accepting her handshake, Diamond gives her a questionable look.

"What are you here for? Killing a puppy?" Diamond slashes.

Veera instantly retracts her hand and her lip contorts into a sneer. "No, I was dragged here after I watched my mother die right in front of me." She snaps back.

Diamond's eyes widen, her mouth slightly open. "Um, I . . . I'm sorry I didn't mean-" she stutters.

"It's fine." Veera interjects. "We all have a story."

"What's yours? If I may ask."

"My great-grandmother and grandmother were members of the Faceless. My mother was the next in line, but she didn't want any part of the life." Veera shifts her gaze down and traces into the carpet with her toes. "One evening, while my father was out hunting, they came."

Diamond feels her throat swell.

"They barged through the door and cut my mother down right in front of me. I was only eight years old. After that, they carried me off and I've been here ever since."

"How old are you now?" Diamond asks.

"Fifteen."

"I'm so sorry, Veera." Diamond mumbles. "And it was just like that? You never tried to escape?"

"I don't have a death wish." Veera says, then shrugs. "I mean, I can never forgive them for what they did, but at the same time this is my family's history. Even if my mother was never a part of it."

"How many members are there?" Diamond asks.

"Right now Zusa is still recruiting. So we only have about, five or six." Veera says wavering a hand.

"So, where is _here_?" Diamond asks.

Veera answers by pointing to the window. Diamond looks over her shoulder and crawls over to it. She peeks out and finds the land surrounded by trees and grass and mountains and water. She is in the woods.

"Care for a tour?" Veera smiles.

Diamond decides to like Veera for now and nods. She leaves her room and follows Veera out. Diamond wasn't sure what she had expected of The Faceless' safe house, but the elegant mansion surrounded by steel bars was certainly not it.

As she follows down to the entry hall, her footsteps echo against the polished wood floor. Diamond cranes her head, awed at the incredible height of the ceiling. Someone must like old-fashioned boats, she thinks, her eyes finding first the model of what she thought might be a schooner, perched on a long hallway table, and then a large painting depicting an old-time being tossed around on a stormy sea.

Their footsteps go mute as the sink into the runner carpet that stretches down the hallway and up a grand spiral staircase. To her right is an open living room area with tall, sliding wooden doors. Inside, a fireplace plays the role of centerpiece. The walls are lined with shelves decorated with colorful glass knickknacks and more boats. Tall floor lamps with fancy Tiffany-like shades accented the space. The lamps especially, Diamond thinks, gives the room a very "look but don't touch" feel.

"So, how did Zusa get such an . . . impressive building to be her safe house?"

"Some rich merchant fled the city with his family." Veera says. "All his helpers stayed to keep the mansion clean, warm, and safe. Zusa moved in shortly after. I've even heard she keeps a few business contracts with various stewards about the olds while pretending to be a friend of the real owner."

"What happens when the merchant returns to his home?" Diamond asks.

"He won't."

Diamond blinks in shock, but makes sure to follow Veera as they continue on; not comfortable on being lost in the house on her own; but stops when she comes to a second larger room to his right. This one is another no-touchy, done in antique gold and soft pinks with hardwood inlay floor, heavy draperies, and fancy old chairs. In one corner, like a squat gentleman in a tuxedo, stands a polished black piano. As she steps into the room, it feels almost as though she is crossing through a time portal, leaving behind on century behind for another. She strode towards the piano and sidesteps a low coffee table with spindly legs. She moves to stand behind the instrument, where she lets her fingers trail the keys. Picking one somewhere in the middle, she presses it softly.

The note – out of tune – boomed around him.

Diamond jerks her arm back. Her elbow plows into the shelf behind her, slamming into an oil painting. She swings around, checks the photo – and freezes when she finds herself staring into the intense gaze of a green-eyed, black-haired woman. Zusa; educated guess.

The photo, taken from the shoulders up, shows her dressed in a blue button-down, and a black vest. Her gaze seems to be fixed in an almost-scowl at the painter, like she was indignant at the idea of having her picture painted. Faint half circles underlined the Zusa's eyes, giving her the look of being prematurely world-weary.

Turning, Diamond checks to make sure nothing else on the bookshelf got knocked over. At the sound of feet approaching from the hall, she turns back to the piano quickly, pretending she is distracted by its beauty, allowing her fingers to ghost over the keys again.

Veera peeks his head in. She steps fully into the doorway and folds her hands behind her back.

"Sorry, sorry." Diamond apologizes.

Diamond makes sure to follow Veera as she navigates them through the halls. Left, right, right. Left right left. Right, right. The turns, in order from the point of origin – the living room – to the rest of the kingdom. Diamond is so disoriented he could never find her way back, the fingers of her hand sliding along the mahogany banister. Despite the fact that they mount a few flights of stairs, she still feels like they're descending deeper in the building. They reached a landing, a window stamped into the wall to her left. Rounding on final corner, she comes to a long hallway with an even larger floor to ceiling window with cross-hatched X's along the glass. The natural lighting brightens the entire hall.

As she leads Diamond towards the front door, Veera yanks Diamond aside as another cloaked Faceless enters. With her cloak brushing the floor, she mimics gliding across the floor; her footsteps soundless. She is taller than Diamond by two inches, and is fully clad in her black and purple wrappings, her face a mask of white cloth. Shadows seem to curl off her firm body and fade away like smoke. Her head turns towards Diamond, and despite the cloth, Diamond shifts uncontrollably as she sees dots of blue looking at her. After a moment of awkward silence, the Faceless looks away and continues on.

"Who's the broad?" Diamond asks.

Veera giggles a little. "That's Eloria. She's the third in command. Though I don't think there's an official title for that."

"Who's the second?"

"Malick. Being the only man accepted, and with his 'rescue mission.'" Veera air quotes.

"Why the air quotes? You don't believe him?"

"No I do, in fact, Eloria was one of the woman in the brothel."

"Get out!" Diamond exclaims.

"Yep. She was second in command until Malick showed up, and she actually approached Zusa and said that he deserves it more than her."

"And Zusa was fine with it?"

Veera nods. Veera then leads them outside into the woods and turns Diamond to face the house itself.

The house itself was incredible, practically a castle in its own. It had three levels, the topmost of which might be an attic. The roof met in the peak there, with a little subroof sticking out from underneath the first framing a rectangular, three-paneled window. A small concrete porch led up to a front door, shaded by a simple verandah, which was itself supported by a row of painted white pillars. The front door, done in an opaque gold stained-glass design, shimmered a satiny dim yellow in the late afternoon sunlight.

A heavy wind rushed by, causing the leafy heads of enormous, ancient looking trees to swish back and forth. The sun poked through the clouds, lighting the very center of the court where a huge fountain stood. No water poured from the enormous green basin, and the elevated base was surrounded by graceful swans and solemn-faced shrubs.

At the very top of the fountain, a statue of a voluptuous nude woman looked down on them as they passed. She held a swath of fabric that clung to the lower half of her body and appeared to billow out behind her in a suspended arc. Curly-haired cherubs frolicked beneath the basin in a captured moment of abandon. Though the figures might have seemed playful in the daylight, something about the mix of shadows and stark light cast on their small faces through the trees made them appear more mischievous than free-spirited, more impish than gleeful.

The large swans that reveled with them, rearing back with wings outspread, looked somehow frantic.

Blocked by the wide bowl of the basin, the light could not reach the sultry figure of the nude woman who stood at the very top of the fountain, her veil billowing out behind her. She remained swathed in shadow, a silhouette that belonged to the night.

"So, what do you think?" Veera asks once the tour of the house is complete. Diamond plops down onto the couch. Veera remains at the door, as if embarrassed to come further inside.

"It's not what I expected." Diamond admits.

"Is that good?"

Diamond pauses. "I don't know." Diamond shakes her head, deciding if she was more confused now than before she answered the question.

"Oh, and before I go," Diamond looks up to Veera. "Zusa wants you."

Diamond lets out a sigh, then stands.

"Do you remember where to go?" Veera smiles slyly.

"I do, I just need someone to clarify for me." Diamond exaggerates.

Veera giggle and proceeds to lead Diamond. As she walks through the estate, marveling at various paintings of the faraway lands of Morrowind, Hammerfell and Cyrodill, Diamond lets her mind wander to her own situation. She has been told that the Faceless are her enemies. Now she is in the lair of the enemy, possibly trusting a member who could only be putting on an act to earn her trust, and all for what? A vague promise of wealth?

No, it wasn't the wealth. It's the power, she realizes. Zusa had offered Diamond a role at her side, the highest reward she could bestow. If all of Skyrim quakes in fear at the name of the Faceless, might not the same one day happen for Diamond? A foolish fantasy, perhaps, but she could not shake it away. It sucks wisdom from her heart like a leech.

The hall of paintings ends at Zusa's room. Veera knocks twice, then waits patiently. A moment alter the door creeps open, and she waves Diamond in. Diamond looks to her and Veera gives her a soft smile and leaves her. Diamond enters, passing between two torches bracketed to the wall. Inside is a plush room of velvet reds and silky yellows. An enormous bed, its wooden painted silver and its knobs carved into pairs of wings, is in the far corner. In the center of the room is a rectangular table with six chairs, seeming like a strange joke with its dull finish and undecorated nature amid a sea of decadence.

Zusa sits in the middle seat facing the door. She waves Diamond to her. With her features exposed, Diamond can't help but feel a twinge of pain in her chest at her beauty.

"Thank you for meeting with me, sweet Diamond." Without time to react, Zusa takes Diamond's hand and bitterly accepts the kiss on her wrist. "Frankly I haven't seen such beauty since . . . well, that's not important."

Diamond shifts her weight from one foot to the other, trying to hide any discomfort.

"I looked into you, Diamond. You're skilled. I've gone over the events several times in my head, heard of everything you have done. You've not just survived, but thrived. You refuse to join my faction, when clearly we are thriving ourselves. Why?"

Diamond wishes she had a bitchier answer, but she gives the honest one. "Because I know where my loyalties lie."

She expects Zusa to be angry, but instead she laughs. It is light and airy, like that belonging to a princess.

"As I hoped," she says. "You do not lie, do not hide, do not waste my time. Your skill is undeniable, my dearest Diamond, and your motives are as pure as I might hope for. If it is money you want, I can give it to you. If it is power, I have that as well. And if you are willing, I will give you a chance others could only dream of."

"What is it?" Diamond asks, wishing she could sit down. Her legs are sore and feel like they're quaking, but they hold like steel.

"Join me as part of my council." Zusa says. "You've got potential, and given how your own Brotherhood is fading, I'm not much for wasting time. You're good. Are you good enough?"

"Too many quiver at the notion of the word no when in Zusa's presence. Be careful on your answer. Bravery can also be stupidity." A voice says.

Diamond looks around and finds Malick leaning against the wall with his arms folded.

"So wait, what's -"

"I'm willing to offer you a deal, my dearest Diamond." Zusa leans forward, folding her hands in front of her. "I want you to stay with us for three days. That's all. Within that time, you will be training and living as if you are a member. And if within that time you still wish to stay with your, depleting Brotherhood, so be it."

"Why do this?" Diamond asks.

"Because I want you to see, feel and have a sense of what I'm offering you, Diamond. The luxury and the much more appropriate setting for someone of your skill." Zusa explains. "I want to show you, that you belong here."

Diamond's eyes flick to Malick.

"Malick has agreed to be your supervisor for this."

Diamond instantly springs up from her seat, her face contorting into a vicious snarl. "Bullshit! I'm not working with him!"

"You think I volunteered to do this?" Malick responds. "I'd soon face a dragon."

"He will be training you and escorting you around the mansion so that you familiarize yourself enough." Zusa continues.

"And what if after all this I still don't want to join?" Diamond challenges.

"If it were to come to that, then you will be dismissed." Zusa answers.

"Meaning?"

"You will never have contact with the Faceless again."

Diamond feels her heart flutter at the mention of never having to meet the Faceless again. Never have to worry about getting attacked or kidnapped. Most importantly, she can return to her life at the Brotherhood in peace.

"So, Diamond. Do we have a deal?" Zusa stretches out her hand.

Diamond looks to it, then to Malick. He only rolls his eyes.

Diamond cracks a smile, and takes Zusa's hand.

"Deal."


	19. Chapter 19

Diamond paces her room in the Faceless Headquarters. She fights back her anger as best she can.

When she agreed to Zusa's negotiation, it didn't dawn on her until she returned to her room that she will be stuck in the mansion for three days. Three days! To anyone else, that is a privilege that they would do anything to extend; but to Diamond, it might as well be a prison of a home.

Three days of being in this house; no contact with Libby, at all! Or the Brotherhood! Even if they were to know she is gone, would anyone come looking for her? Veezara came the last time Diamond was sent out on some big mission, but that was for the party. Her next assignment is to go talk to Gabriella; and Diamond can only assume that her absence will only leave the Brotherhood to thinking she's spending time with the Guild. As far as Diamond knows, the Brotherhood still thinks that Libby is dead. Not to mention she's under the tutelage of Malick. Who isn't all that excited himself, so what else is she supposed to do? She flees, they'll find her, yet if she stays . . .

Diamond plops onto the bed and sighs in aggravation. Her hair still in a messy braid flops onto her nose, and Diamond wrinkles it to move it off. She rubs her hands over her face and grits her teeth. There's a knock at her door and a muffled voice calls behind it. From the pitch, it's Veera.

"Come in." Diamond grants.

The door opens and Veera steps in with a soft smile and a pile of clothes in her one hand. "Hey." She greets.

"What's that?" Diamond instantly questions.

"You're new uniform." Veera answers.

"My what -?! No, no, no, this wasn't part of the deal!" Diamond objects.

"It's more like an unspoken requirement." Veera rephrases. "Besides, I know how much you want to leave. The more you please Zusa, the quicker you can leave."

Diamond groans as Veera places the clothes on the dresser.

"Listen, about me not liking the Faceless . . ." Diamond starts.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me." Veera stops her. "I don't need to hear it. More importantly, you have Malick as your mentor!"

She squeals and hops onto Diamond's bed. Diamond rolls her eyes, but smiles. She rotates her finger in a circle in the air. "Yay." She grumbles.

"Don't act like you're not excited." Veer nudges Diamond's arm.

"Who said I was acting."

"Come on! Okay so he's brooding and moody, but he's pretty hot." Veera smiles. Diamond rolls her eyes. "Okay, think about this. He's the second in command of the Faceless, having him around could make everyone treat you with more respect."

Diamond ponders over this for a second. "I'm not here to gain anyone's respect really, I'm just staying here because I want her to leave me alone!"

"Wow. You're really loyal to your Brotherhood, huh?"

"Well yeah, I mean, they gave me a home when no one else would." Diamond explains.

"You didn't know your parents?"

"Nope, and didn't care enough to find out." Diamond admits.

"Well, I guess you don't trust easily, huh?"

"Well, I mean I guess. I have only one friend since in the Brotherhood I'm still like a newbie." Diamond says.

"They don't respect you?" Veera asks.

""Well, not exactly. Just, that . . . I don't know, I was just essential to them." Diamond asks.

Veera stays quiet for a moment, then slinks off the bed. "Okay!" she claps her hands together. "Get up!"

"What? What for?" Diamond asks propping on her elbows.

"To make sure your uniform fits." Veera asks.

Diamond groans and gets up from the bed. She lets Veera escort her over to right in front of the vanity. Looking at her reflection, she can't help but frown. With her hair down and braided, and her uniform dyed purple, she did resemble one of the Faceless. It creeps her out; how easily some simple adjustments and she can be clarified as one of them. Still, it's more than how she feels when with the Brotherhood. She feels like she, belongs here. Diamond shakes her head as if to get the dust off.

She stands straight so that Veera takes her measurements.

"Hold your arms out." She instructs.

Suddenly Veera pokes her between the ribs. Diamond squeaks and instinctively claps her arms to her sides.

"Oh relax. Now come on, the sooner we can get this done, the sooner I leave you alone."

Diamond sighs and holds out his arms horizontal. Veera loops the tape around Diamond's waist and drew it in snug. She strips the tape away and pulls a pen out of her bun to mark a pad of paper. Diamond clamps her arms in against herself against like chicken wings as the Veera fussed around her.

"Ow!" She jolts as Veera pinches her right on the fleshy part of her underarm. Then she feels Veera take the tape and string it around her bustline. "Hey!" she reflexively smacks her hand away.

"Oh, I hate you," Veera grumbles, making a note on the sheet of paper. She pulls the tape away again, this time drawing out one of Diamond's arms to measure its circumference. Scowling, Diamond gave up with a huff, resigning herself to be handled and measured and cataloged.

Soon, Veera has Diamond in a simple black shift dress; her Brotherhood clothes folded and entombed in the bottom drawer of the dresser. Then Diamond watches as Veera pulls out the wrappings. Diamond takes a timid step back, hesitant as she approaches.

"What?" Veera asks.

"I'm just . . . hesitant." Diamond carefully speaks, unwilling to admit she's nervous about a simple piece of cloth.

"Oh don't worry." Veer replies, unphased. "They're just wrappings. They're actually more comfortable than you think."

Suddenly it occurs to Diamond; just how easily she can turn this around. She can use this to her advantage. Perhaps they'd be willing to share information and techniques to her. Then when her time-span is up, she can deliver the news to Astrid; sure to earn her a spot next to Astrid's side forever. As Veera begins to wrap the cloth around Diamond's arm, Diamond asks.

"So uh, how do you guys do that, shadow thing?"

Veera looks to her with a confused look.

"Um, I mean, how do you guys vanish? Like cause those effects?" She rephrases.

"Oh!" Veera exclaims. "The cloak's enchanted." She bluntly answers.

Diamond nods as Veera begins to wrap the cloth around her torso. Diamond flexes her arm, and while she expects the cloths to bunch up and loosen, instead they stay put. They stay wrapped to her skin, and don't pull or pinch. Diamond looks closer and watches as the cloths morph together and stick to one another. Veer has already wrapped the other arm and Diamond rotates them in circles and flexes her arms forward and back.

"How's it fit?" Veera asks.

"Fits, good." Diamond says in an astonished tone. "So, another question. Do you take contracts from only women?"

Veera shakes her head. "Sometimes we take those of widowed men whose wives or lovers or spouses, whatever that have been murdered."

"Malick said that you guys, what's the word, vengeance of women in Skyrim."

"Yes." Veer answers. She leaves the front of Diamond's chest open exposing the shift while trying to finish Diamond's torso. She moves onto Diamond's legs after she gives padded shoes. The wrappings around with a smooth finish, no folds sticking out, just a smooth finish to give the illusion of one uniform.

"Okay, one more question."

Veera chuckles. "Jeez, you ask a lot of a questions."

Diamond nearly knees her in the eye, but just taps her on temple.

"So, you guys kill for the, justice of women? Does that make you good?" Diamond asks.

Veera finishes pinning the wrap under the inner arch of her left foot. Diamond can't get over how Veera giggles.

"What? What is it?" Diamond asks.

Veera is about to answer, when Diamond's door opens and Malick steps inside. "Hey girls . . ."

Diamond's face flushes and she instinctively crosses her arms over her chest. She then realizes that Veera is pinning the end of the cloth near her upper thigh. Diamond's face turns red and she stares at Malick.

"Uh . . . dinner's ready." He finishes. He then turns to go but Veera stops him.

"Wait!" she shouts. Diamond is in a daze at what she's trying to pull. "Come here! Come here!"

Veera trots over and grabs Malick's hand. Actually grabs his hand and pulls him more into the room. Diamond half expects him to wrench his hand loose, but he lets Veera tug him inward up to Diamond. They must be really good friends.

"Okay! Now Diamond, you come here!"

Diamond's eyes widen as Veera clamps her hand on Diamond's arms, still covering her chest. Diamond resists Veera's pull, digging her heels into the carpet. They bicker back and forth as Veera continually pulls Diamond up to Malick. Finally Diamond is inches in front of him and her cheeks are abnormally warm.

With her arms still crossed over her chest, she tries not to look Malick in the eye. She hears Veera chirp okay, then her hands try to pry Diamond's arms away from her chest. Diamond and Veera bicker once more and Malick rolls his eyes. Finally Diamond submits to Veera's slapping of her hands and drops her arms. Immediately, Veera begins to finish wrapping the open space across Diamond's chest.

"Now, even though it's not finished yet, but . . ." Veera takes a pin from the pile of clothes and begins to fold and place the wrap. "What do you think?"

Diamond glances over her shoulder and watches as Veera steps back to admire her work. She rounds up to the front with Malick, forcing Diamond to look at them both. Diamond drops her gaze instantly to the floor and fidgets at it with her toes. She traces the design and prepares for Malick's bombardment of insults.

After a moment of silence, Diamond cocks her head up slightly, peeking under her eyelashes. Malick still stares at her, then he shrugs his shoulders.

"Well, you're not as ugly as I thought." He says. Then he turns and heads for the door.

Diamond is left baffled and astonished at his sudden compliment. Or at least as close to a compliment as she's bound to get. Veera hops to her side and tries to keep her squeals contained. Still she bounces up and down, her breasts bouncing with them. Diamond realize how, shaped, they are for a fifteen year old. They hop opposite to Veera, and Diamond even thinks she might hit herself in the face with them.

"Hey!" Malick calls, and Diamond turns at attention. "If you'll just follow me I'll show you to the dining."

Veera skips out after him, and while Diamond tries to stop her, she still leaves, leaving Diamond's questions still unanswered. Diamond rubs her head as a dull throb taps her temple. She looks again to the mirror and draws a shaky breath.

From her neck down she is coiled in black and purple wrappings. Black open-fingered leather gloves cover her hands with studs poking out atop the knuckles. Her hair is still down so her pink tips actually look like they're fading from blonde to pink at the end. Tucking a few flyaways behind her ear, she didn't even notice Veera had draped a deep purple cloak around her shoulders. Small wisps of black flow off and fade in the air like steam from a cup of tea.

Diamond crouches down like she's ready to sneak, pulling the hood over her head. She watches as the entire cloak as the shadows thicken from the bottom and crawl their way up to her shoulders and enveloping the hood, concealing her face. Diamond lifts a hand up and sees the wrappings have turned pith black as well. When she stands, the blackness fades and the purple shows through again. Diamond turns her hand over and over, fascinated.

It takes a moment to spot Malick standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame, arms folded. Diamond flushes instantly tomato red.

"Pretty cool huh?" he says. Diamond remains silent, and just as she opens her mouth, Malick beats her. "Though I'm sure a simple red dot would be fascinating to you."

Diamond sneers.

"Come on. Dinner's this way."

Diamond flips off the hood, and Malick as she follows him towards the dining hall. Parts of route there brings Diamond to familiar rooms she's seen before on tour with Veera. The living with the piano,

Walking into the dining hall, the room was lit by hundreds of tiny black votive candles, and stands of black glass beads hung from the chandelier. The entire hall was soaring and grand. It was blue and had crystal snowflakes hung suspended from the vaulted ceiling, wavering ever so slightly. Embroidered pillows and carpets lined the floor, while thick clouds of sweet smoke hazed the air. Lethargic courtiers sat, stooped, and stood around hookah pipes and bowls of smoking incense. A heavy perfume pervaded the space, making Diamond dizzy.

The scent of cinnamon, freshly baked bread, and spiced meat seeped to her nose, causing her stomach to growl like that of a ravenous dog. The smell of perfume and wine mingled with the scent of the rich food. More draperies hung suspended from the vaulted ceilings. A warm fire crackling in the hearth.

Malick guides Diamond towards the large mahogany table that stretches all across the floor. Diamond notices another member of the Faceless already sitting there. She lifts her head, her face covered as expected, then at instant glance, she gets up from the table and quickly walks out of the room through a double set of doors on the opposite side of the room. The only remainder is an elderly Redgaurd woman sleeping; a Dwarven battleaxe slung across her back.

Diamond tilts her head in curiosity. "Who was that?"

"Another member." Malick vaguely answers.

"I know that, asshole! I meant who it _was_. The girl behind the cloth." Diamond snaps.

Just as Malick is about to say something, Veera pops in squeaking hello.

_What is she magic_?! Diamond thinks.

Malick motions Diamond to one of the carved, straight-backed chairs with velvet cushions. It's made for someone taller than Diamond, so her toes rest on the ground. Everyone took their seats at the enormous rectangular claw-foot table. It was dark wood, almost black, and there were intricate designs, like vines, carved into the legs. Huge black candles flickered in the center of the table. Veera sits at the very end, near the head of the table, then Malick, and then Diamond.

Diamond's eyes widen at the expanded buffet style food that's spread in front of her, plates touching the corners and seemingly spilling over the edge. Whole roasted cows and pigs and goats still turning on spits. Huge platters of fowl stuffed with savory fruits and nuts. Ocean creatures drizzled in sauces or begging to be dipped in spicy concoctions. Counsels cheeses, breads, vegetables, sweets, waterfalls of wine, and streams of spirits that flicker with flames. At least twenty or more soups and a creamy pumpkin brew sprinkled with silver nuts and tiny black seeds.

The table itself seems to be built for twelve, and Diamond remembers Veera mentioning how they only have six members for now. Diamond is tempted to ask Malick if other members are going to join them, but is torn between receiving a snippy answer, and just waiting. Rather than start a food fight with Malick, Diamond waits and soon, ironically enough, faces appear.

One of them being a young woman in her early twenties with long, flowing blonde hair that stops at the middle of her back, emerald green eyes, and her body tall and lush . . . sexy by anyone's means. She wears a short tavern dress with a low-dip collar and a slit on the side that exposes her lean legs up to the upper thigh. Judging from the tears at the skirt, she cut it short herself. She makes her way around the table taking a seat across from Malick. Diamond makes notice of her eyes, outlined in charcoal to make it look like a cat's.

_What the hell_?! _Is _everyone_ here attractive_?! Diamond thinks.

She looks up and catches Diamond staring. Diamond wants to look away but it's too late so she tries to crack a smile.

"You must be the new girl." the girl speaks. Her voice is smooth and, feminine; and she gives Diamond a smile. "I'm Eloria."

Eloria extends her hand across the table and Diamond struggles to reach it, but still catches it to give it a shake. Eloria giggles and Diamond can't help but feel slightly embarrassed.

"So, was the new girl obvious?" Diamond asks.

"Well, you the only person dressed in uniform." Eloria points out.

This realization makes Diamond flush even more. Suddenly there's a whoosh of a body plummeting and Diamond braces herself. There's a heavy thud and the entire table as well as its contents rattle. Diamond peeks open one eye, and yelps in surprise as a pair of _real_ feline eyes stare hard into hers. A mask covering the lower half of her face like Malick's.

Crouched in front of her is a female Khajiit with piercing yellow eyes, the pupils reduced to thin slits, and pierced ears pressed back. Diamond remembers Libby telling her how any cat, when about to attack will do this gesture, and it's best to be very cautious. Diamond feels a lump in her throat as she sees a dagger in the Khajiit's hand. She flicks her eyes from the dagger to the Khajiit. Suddenly the Khajiit smiles showing rows of teeth.

"Greeting sister. Kiara welcomes you to our home." She speaks.

She rises, her long legs wrapped in the purple and black with bits of fur poking out in between. Her tail swings back and forth and she drops down from the table and takes the available seat next to Diamond. Diamond fidgets nervously as, Kiara, licks her lips and sheathes her dagger.

"What brings you to the Faceless, sister." Kiara asks.

"Oh um, I'm not an official member. I'm just, visiting." Diamond stutters to answer.

Kiara raises an eyebrow in question. Diamond feels her blood grow cold, when Malick suddenly interjects. "Zusa's giving her the three day initiation thing."

"Ah, I see." Kiara says, her face returning to normal.

Diamond looks to Malick, who spins his fork in his bowl, rolling up pasta noodles. Diamond looks at her plate, which is loaded with food, though she knows she didn't get it herself. Still the aroma of the food is enough for her to dispatch it. Mushroom soup, bitter greens with tomatoes the size of grapes, rare roast beef sliced as thin as paper, noodles in a green sauce, cheese that melts on your tongue served with sweet blue grapes.

Halfway through her pasta, Diamond looks up to the old Redgaurd still sleeping in her chair.

"Hey," she murmurs to Malick. He looks to her as he takes a drink of red wine. "Who's that?" Diamond asks pointing a secret finger at the woman.

"Hmm, oh that's Miss Lusha. We call her Lulu."

"More like Kookoo." Veera adds, spurring her words as she takes a gobble of pasta. She swallows heavily and belches. "She claims she has unworldly abilities. She doesn't go on any missions."

"From what Zusa told us, she used to live in a village and give people fortunes, but the Nords didn't trust her. Thought she was a witch and drove her out." Eloria adds.

Diamond hears Kiara snarl. "The Nords fear that of what is different."

Eloria suddenly smiles slyly. "And if I were you, I'd be sure not to mention, STORMCLAOKS!" she suddenly shouts.

This wakes Lulu, her eyes wide and beady. She instantly draws her battleaxe and with a blink, it sticks into the table, the toe of the axe inches from Diamond's face. Diamond's eyes widen and she carefully leans back. Miss Lulu begins to swing it around wildly screaming. "Stormcloaks! Stormcloaks!"

She begins to run around the dining room, and while Eloria is laughing, Malick and Kiara continue to eat their food as if nothing is wrong. Diamond is nervous as Lulu screams and swings all around the table. Suddenly she feels a head on the back of her head. It lowers her forward and Diamond can hear the wood of her chair get decapitated, the motion sending a vibration through the wood and the bones of her legs. Diamond looks to Malick as he's leaned forward as well, his arm extended towards Diamond. He sits back up and Diamond follows his motion in unison. She looks to her chair and her mouth agapes.

Veera growls and slams her palms to the table, springing up from her seat. "Would you calm down you crazy old hag?! There's no one here!" she screams.

Lulu instantly stops, as if a switch has been flipped in her head and she sheathes her battleaxe.

"You're scaring out new guest!" Veera growls through grit teeth.

Miss Lulu looks to Diamond and Diamond goes rigid. "Oh! My goodness, sweetie I am so sorry." She says. "I'm a little bit paranoid since I was run out of my village."

Diamond doesn't know what to say, so she merely nods and gives a gentle smile.

"Well, I'm sorry to leave so soon, but I need to take a quick nap." Lulu says. She then proceeds to leave the room, a little wobbly but holding her own through the doors.

Veera sits down and sighs while Eloria still giggles.

"Not funny Eloria."

"Gets me every time." says Eloria.

"That's because you have a cruel sense of humor." Veer counters.

"Is she, um . . . crazy?" Diamond carefully asks.

"Well, it varies." Veera says.

"Meaning . . . ?"

"She'll laugh at odd places in conversations or drop out of them distractedly. Her eyes sometimes fixate on a point with such intensity that you find yourself trying to make out what she sees in the empty air." Veera explains.

"Sometimes, for no reason, she'll also press both hands over her ears as if to block out a painful sound." Eloria adds.

"She's less mad than unstable." Malick chimes. The way he says it, he was almost, defending Miss Lulu. Correcting the girls rather than agreeing with them.

Diamond feels her heart heavy and looks to the exit where Miss Lulu left. Her sympathy leads her to agree with Malick. With what she's been through and how it seems to affect her, Diamond decides she's probably not so bad. And apparently she's done something right to have Zusa believe her and keep her around the home.

After dinner, Malick leads Diamond out to the training room. It's the size of a Jarl's grand hall filled with various weapons and obstacle courses. The masked member from dinner practices at an archery station while Kiara spins and slashes at dummy with her daggers.

The shooting range has a variety of standard bull's-eyes and human silhouettes. Something catches Diamond's attention and astounds her more. The unnamed member stands behind a control panel, pressing colorful buttons for at least ten seconds before stepping out onto the range.

All the dummies move side to side in simple motions while others bend backwards vertically until they're backs are flat on the floor. She goes to stand at the middle of the range, on a platform that presses down from her weight. Immediately a dummies springs up and Diamond watches as she loads an arrow and skewers the dummy straight through the heart.

It slams to the ground and another springs up. She quickly reloads and shoots again. Another dummy slides out from behind a black barrier and a dagger shoots from another metal contraption. The nameless member spins out of the way and shoots at the dummy's head. It slides back and one at the opposite end slides out. Once it's shot in the head, she aims for another up higher. This goes on for sixty seconds, nearly ninety dummies each with an arrow in the heart, neck or head before a bell chimes and steam hisses throughout the range. All dummies retreat to their places and the nameless member walks off slinging her bow to her back.

_Wow, she's as good as Libby_ . . .

"Dwarven mechanics." Malick says, startling Diamond. She turns around to find him wearing a loose, black sleeveless shirt and some old trousers. His arm muscles very distinct. "Zusa spent the better part of her years learning about them. Built that entire range herself."

"Wow." Diamond mumbles in genuine surprise.

"Come on, over here." Malick motions.

He leads her to a huge wooden floor with a large circle painted in the middle. Though Diamond still wears the wrappings, Malick instructs her to remove the cloak. Diamond obeys and tosses it aside.

"Since you'll be with us for three days, I've been instructed to teach you some of our basic fighting styles and techniques. The purpose of this is to prepare you to act; to prepare your body to respond to threats and challenges - which you will need, if you intend to join the Faceless." Malick explains.

"I wouldn't hold your breath on that." Diamond snips back with a mischievous smile.

"We'll go over technique today, and tomorrow you will start to fight other members."

Diamond goes rigid. "Wait, what?! But they, they're really good." Diamond protests.

"Then I suggest you pay attention." says Malick. "I'll throw a lot at you. Everything I learned from my own mentors, and my own bruises."

Diamond gulps.

"Remember, combat is about controlling the conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, and never reacting." Malick explains.

Malick names a few different punches, demonstrating each one as he does, first against the air and then against the dummy. It's a good thing Diamond is a fast learner. Like in the past, she needs a few tries to figure out how to hold herself and how tom move her body to make it look like his. The kicks are more difficult though he only teaches her the basics. The dummy feels thicker than the ones at the Brotherhood Sanctuary, and it stings her hands and feet, turning her skin red, and barely moves no matter how hard she hits it.

Malick constantly watches her. Eyeing her as she goes through the movements again. Diamond's insides twist like someone's stirring them with a fork. He stares at her, his eyes following her body from her head to her feet, not lingering anywhere - a practical, scientific gaze.

"You don't have much muscle." He says. "Which means you're better off using your knees and elbows. You can put more power behind them."

"Hey, who's the girl who wields a Warhammer as her weapon on a daily basis?!" Diamond counters.

Suddenly he presses a hand to Diamond's stomach. His fingers are so long that, though the heel of his hand touches one side of her rib cage, his fingertips still touch the other side. Diamond's heart pounds so hard in her chest it hurts, and she stares at him, wide-eyed.

"Never forget to keep tension here." He says in a quiet voice.

He lifts his hands and steps back. Diamond feels the pressure of his palm even after it's gone. It's strange, but she has to stop and breathe for a few seconds before she can keep practicing again.

After another hour, Malick lifts the dummy aside and opens the floor for the two of them. They stand on opposite of each other and Malick takes a fighting stance. "Remember the techniques." He says.

Diamond doesn't nod instead she readies her arms. Malick's arm twitches and Diamond reflexively braces her head between her forearms. Malick's fist lands on her left and while it stings, it's better than if it hit her jaw. But before Diamond could strike back, Malick spins down, kicking Diamond's feet out from under her. Her back slams into the floor, nearly knocking the wind out of her and making her vision speckle with colorful dots for a few seconds.

She stifles a groan and pushes to her elbows to find Malick extending out a hand. Diamond eyes him cautiously and takes his hand. He hauls her to her feet and lets Diamond dust herself off.

"Good block. But did you see what you did wrong?" he asks.

"No." Diamond answers.

"You need to be quicker than that. I don't know what kind of techniques they train you in the Brotherhood, but you always need to be on your feet. Quick thinking." He snap his fingers to emphasize the point. "Now again."

They spare for another hour, beads of sweat budding on Diamond's forehead and moistening her neck. Within the final five minutes of their last sparring round, Diamond manages to block both of Malick's punches and grab his forearm from the second punch and throw him over her; his back slapping to the floor. Once he's down for the count of three, Diamond is declared the winner. Diamond jogs over to help him up, but Malick is already on his feet.

"Well, at least you catch on fast." He says.

"Is that a compliment?" Diamond teases.

"It's an observation." Malick leans his face close to Diamond's which reminds Diamond of lying inches away from the fangs of a dog about to attack.

Suddenly he grabs Diamond's arm and twists it at a painful angle behind her back, causing her to clench her teeth tight, seething from pain.

"You didn't really think you won did you? I was holding back. Way back." Malick hisses into her ear.

He releases Diamond's arm and she rubs it profusely, not even caring if it meant failure in his eyes. "You mean you've been going easy on me? That's not fair!"

"Are you complaining?"

"Well, I . . . you. . . I . . ." Diamond stutters.

"Care to finish any of those sentences?"

Diamond then screams, frustrated. She crosses the room and wipes some sweat of the sweat from her forehead. She slams the point of a dagger so hard into the table that it sticks there, handle towards the ceiling.

Returning to her room, Diamond orders an outrageous number of delicacies, dumping the food out the window, and then taking her anger out on Malick, at every living member of the Faceless by smashing dishes around her room, screaming at the top of her lungs. No one comes to stop her, and Diamond doesn't care. She kicks a path through the shards and passes the mirror on her vanity before stepping back. Looking at her reflection, she snarls.

"I will never be one of you." She growls.

Bringing her fist up, Diamond slams it into the mirror, shattering it to pieces and sending fissures cracking along her reflection.

"Never!"


	20. Chapter 20

Libby nervously waits in the room outside the Ragged Flagon. Being in the Ratways again is bittersweet. Libby has never felt more rejuvenated to be back in the one place she calls home; however whether or not she'll be welcomed with open arms is left to be decided.

There still hasn't been a sign of Diamond since she left the mansion. She said that she would be heading back to the Brotherhood Sanctuary, yet it's been hours, and twilight is soon approaching. Libby is dressed in her Nightingale uniform with Gallus's blade strapped to her side. She's looked at herself in the mirror a couple times with her hood up, and there's a conflicted feeling inside her gut every time. She normally dressed in the uniform of then Guild. And while this is sort of an, extension of that, it still feels misplaced, yet with it being her father's, it feels right.

"Libby, we need to get going." Karliah says as she enters the main hall.

"But Diamond said she'd be here." Libby retorts.

"I'm sorry Libby, but we need to go. We cannot waste any more time."

"But Diamond -"

"Diamond is late. I'm sorry but we need to go. Before Mercer realizes everything that's happened after." Karliah points out. "Perhaps she got hung up with the Brotherhood and can't make it."

"I suppose."

"How about this, I'll scout ahead while you wait for Diamond. But when the moon is at eleven, you need to come to the Ratway. I'm sure Mercer's gotten word of my arrival."

"Then the Guild will be expecting us."

"Perhaps me, but not you." Karliah says. "Come at eleven, no exceptions."

Libby has never seen Karliah so on edge; she's always so soft spoken. Mercer must be really getting to her now that they're revealing all they have to the Guild. She hasn't set foot in there since the death of Gallus. So Libby nods and sighs.

She sits at the dining table for her time, eating, drinking and cooking to pass. But still no one shows.

So she decides to, escape.

She explores through the woods on her property of Lakeview Manor. She shoots a couple dear and practices her archery with a special training mechanism. At least she knows where Diamond is.

When eleven comes and Diamond still unavailable, Libby has no choice. Leaving the manor, Libby tells her carriage rider to head to Riften.

The darkness has overtaken the city and with the carriage parked outside the stables, Libby climbs up over them and over the wall avoiding the guards up front. She runs along the stone top plate until she reaches the garden of Honeyside. She jumps down into the greenery and blends in with the shadows.

Keeping close to the walls, she makes sure to pickpocket a few of the guards she encounters before sneaking into the graveyard and to the mausoleum. Pressing the button, she coffin slides back into the wall, but when Libby goes to twist the cover, it's stuck. She tries again it doesn't budge.

"No, no." she whispers.

She's about to pound on the lid when she stops, realizing it'll give away her cover. Libby groans and slips out of the mausoleum and ducks under the architectural groins of the Temple of Mara before sprinting across the wood, hopping down to the lower level. Rounding about the Square, Libby makes it to the gates leading to the Ratway.

Easily maneuvering through the tunnels, Libby enters the door to the Flagon and is suddenly pleased as her eyes first find a merchant that's moved in just outside the Flagon. She then spots Karliah nervously leaning against the wall, arms folded. When she notices Libby, she approaches.

"I'm glad you're here. I think some of these people are beginning to suspect who I am." Karliah whispers.

Libby looks ahead and instantly feels her stomach twist. Usually Vex and Devlin are present, Vekel is there, but that's it. This isn't good. Libby's hands grow cold and they behind to shake.

"Are you ready to face the Guild?" Karliah asks.

"What it Mercer's in there?" Libby asks, her voice shaking, and she mentally slaps herself. Karliah places a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Then we show them Gallus's journal and hope for the best." Karliah says.

"Sounds like a confident plan." Libby remarks.

"We have evidence, all Mercer has is his word. Now keep your eyes open. I'm not sure what to expect when we enter the cistern."

As she begins walking ahead, Libby grabs her shoulder. "Wait! Maybe I should go first."

"What?"

"Like you said, they're not expecting me. Who's to say they won't cut you down on the spot without listening to you?" Libby asks.

"Who's to say they won't do the same for you? As far as they're concerned, you're just a trespasser. And they don't take too kindly to those." Karliah counters.

Libby is about to say something, but Karliah takes the lead and Libby follows. Libby decides to make her way around as Dirge approaches. He spots Karliah and is about to question her but Karliah immediately jabs at his throat and slams her foot into the side of his head. Before Vekel can call out, Libby jumps across the counter and slams a blunt weapon into his head, knocking him out cold. Libby looks to Karliah and she nods.

Catching up, they enter the Cistern.

Standing in the short tunnelway before it opens up into the Cistern, Karliah signals Libby to stay a little behind. Up ahead, Brynjolf can be seen with Delvin and Vex with their weapons drawn. Libby feels her hands grow clammy and her stomach plummets to the floor. Karliah walks ahead, and Libby stands by the door.

As soon as she enters the light, Brynjolf draws his weapons and Libby can see Karliah tense up.

"You had better have a damn good reason to be here after everything you've done." Brynjolf sneers through grit teeth.

"Please, lower your weapons so I can speak." Karliah says, though her tone quakes making it appear that she's begging to them. Libby approaches carefully behind her, still out of sight.

"There is nothing left to say, Karliah!" Brynjolf screams. "First you murdered Gallus, and now Libby! A _nineteen_ year old girl!"

"Please Brynjolf . . . I have proof that you've all been misled!" Karliah calmly replies.

"No! No, I'm not listening. I don't want to hear it. I'm done listening!"

Brynjolf then charges forward and Libby feels her heart freeze. Without thinking, she lunges forward drawing Gallus's Nightingale blade. Brynjolf goes to slash at Karliah, and Libby jumps in front and blocks it.

The entire Guild seems to freeze as the metallic clang echoes throughout the Cistern. Libby had shut her eyes, and with her face being inches from Brynjolf, she slowly opens them.

Brynjolf watches as they slowly open, and two orbs of piercing emerald green gaze into his own eyes. His mouth agapes.

Within seconds, Libby pushes off, spins and knocks Brynjolf's blade aside then whirling down and kicking one foot out from under him, then nailing her foot in his diaphragm to knock him back a few feet from Karliah. Delvin helps Brynjolf to his feet who holds his stomach. Now Libby can see the entire cistern, all the members, Thrynn, Cynric, Vipir, Nuruin, Etienne. They're all armed to the teeth ready to attack.

Brynjolf grunts as he gets to feet, and Libby sheathes her sword.

"Who's this? Some lackey?" Brynjolf snarls.

Libby now stands in between him and Karliah. Libby raises her hands in surrender. She shifts her hand back, centimeter by centimeter, so Brynjolf doesn't notice. Her hand reaches the edge of her hood.

"Brynjolf" Libby speaks. "Please."

Brynjolf instantly freezes and his face goes from feral to confusion instantly. His grip on his dagger loosens and Libby moves her hand and normal pace.

Vex readies to launch but Brynjolf stops her. "No, no."

Vex looks to him confused and angry, but Brynjolf takes careful steps towards Libby.

"C-can it be . . .?"

Libby keeps her hands steady, her fingers shaking with anticipation. She closes her fingers around her hood and pulls it back. She simultaneously pulls off the mask covering the lower half of her face. The fabric falls with a soft hush and the cool breeze of the water in the Cistern blows across the sweat gathered on Libby's forehead. She sighs and flips her hair out and over her shoulders. It falls in a black curtain of waves and she tucks a few strands behind her ears.

Vex and Delvin stare in shock and disbelief, and Libby can see Vex's eyes glisten, but no tears spill over; though she nearly drops her dagger. Delvin's eyes widen and his mouth drops open.

Libby's exhale of breath shakes and she swallows thickly. "Hi Brynjolf."

She had meant to say it louder, but it comes out as a whisper and instantly she feels her eyes moisten with tears. Libby blinks them away and forces herself to talk more.

"N-now I know what you're going to say, Brynjolf. How could I do this? Make you worry and, and team up with a traitor; but you know she isn't a traitor and I needed to do this . . ."

Suddenly the words are there, tumbling over themselves in a rush to be heard. Meanwhile, Brynjolf drops his dagger and approaches Libby. Libby has half a mind to takes steps back, but she holds her ground but feels Karliah taking steps back as he comes closer.

"S-stop acting so stoic, Brynjolf!" Libby squeaks. "Yell, scream, get angry, do something!"

Brynjolf is now standing right in front of Libby and when she blinks, tears stream down her cheeks and sear her cheeks. Brynjolf extends out a hand, and Libby doesn't cower from it. She clamps her lips tight and shuts her eyes as she feels his callous palm press against her cheek.

"I never thought I'd see you again." She hears him speak. It is soft and catches at the end. "I've missed you so much."

Brynjolf, whom Libby has never seen cry, has tears in his eyes.

That's it.

Libby's vision goes blurry with tears and she throws herself into Brynjolf. She sobs loudly and falls apart in his arms. All the pain she's felt about abandoning the Guild, stabbing from Mercer, and conspiring with Karliah, all flows with her tears. Brynjolf's arms wrap around her tight, coiling her into his chest and she can feel him nuzzle into her shoulder. One hand strokes her hair while the other keeps her pressed against him. Libby grips back tighter, memorizing the feel of Brynjolf's strong arms as they wrap about her. Arms that have made her feel safe all her life. Arms she trusts.

Over Brynjolf's shoulder, she can see Delvin wipe at his eyes and sniffle. Finally they pull away and Brynjolf cups Libby's face with his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs. Libby giggles and sniffles and tries to wipe them away, but Brynjolf leans in and kisses her forehead. Libby giggles more and sighs. Then she diverts to Vex who hugs her without hesitation. She chuckles and pats Libby's back.

"You little minx." She teases.

"But, how . . . why did . . ." Brynjolf stutters.

"Karliah saved me, Brynjolf." Libby interjects. "She saved my life when Mercer tried to take it away. She deserves to at least talk."

Brynjolf looks to Libby shocked, and then sighs. He looks to Karliah. "No tricks, Karliah or I'll cut you down where you stand; even if you saved Libby. Now what's this so-called proof you speak of?"

"I have Gallus's journal. I think you'll find its contents disturbing."

"Let me see." Brynjolf demands.

Karliah approaches and Libby takes Gallus's journal and hands it to Brynjolf. He flips through it and his eyebrows narrow.

"No, it . . . I can't be." He mutters. "This can't be true. I've known mercer too long . . ."

"It's true, Brynjolf. Every word." says Libby.

"Mercer's been stealing from the Guild for years, right under your noses." Karliah says.

Brynjolf looks to Libby who only nods with a concerned look on her face. Brynjolf grunts. "There's only one way to find out if what the lass says is true. Delvin, I'll need you to open the vault."

Without waiting, Brynjolf turns and starts to head towards the vault. "Wait just a blessed moment, Bryn. What's in that book? What does it say?" Delvin demands.

"It says Mercer's been stealing from out vault for years. Gallus was looking into it before he was murdered." Brynjolf explains.

As they cross the stone bridge straight ahead, Libby looks around at the other members. They're mouths hang in disbelief, and eyes cling to her face and body. As far as they knew – and she's sure they knew – Libby died no less than two weeks ago.

She looks to see Cynric and Rune on her left, bow and dagger in hand. Rune drops his weapon on the stone and sprints towards Libby. Cynric flinches forward, debating on whether to follow. Rune reaches for Libby, but Cynric catches up and sets a hand on Rune's shoulder to stop him. Libby feels a surge of gratitude, though still she reaches out and quickly grips Rune's fingers before following Brynjolf.

"How can Mercer open up a vault that need two keys? It's impossible." Delvin denies. "Could he pick his way in?"

"That door has the best puzzle locks money can buy. There's no way it can be picked open." Vex says, and with her being the master infiltrator in the Guild, that's saying something.

"He didn't need to pick the lock." Karliah murmurs.

"What's she on about?" Delvin asks.

"Use your key on the vault, Delvin. We'll open it up and find out the truth." Brynjolf says.

Delvin walks over to the double iron doors that lead into the vault. They're at least three inches thick of raw metal, and Libby recalls that the doors won't even open against the Thum'm of a Dragonborn. He knows, he checked. Libby has only ever seen the inside of the vault once, and that was in Mercer and Brynjolf's presence as as they were taking inventory of the weapons. There's a clink and a tap.

"I've used my key, but the vault's still locked up tighter than a drum." Delvin says. "Now sue your."

Brynjolf, who's been clutching Libby's hand the entire time, releases and approaches the doors. Libby grips her arm as Brynjolf inserts his key. The doors swing open and he steps inside.

"By the Eight!" he shouts. "It's gone, everything's gone! All of you get in here!" he orders.

Libby is the first to react and dashes inside. Stepping over the threshold, she skits to a stop next to Brynjolf. Numerous chests are left open with nothing but small dust particles gathering in corners. Tables meant for expensive and exquisite weapons now are bear with only a steel mace and dagger left. Shelves are left with barely any books and strongboxes that held precious gems are empty. Libby walks all around the vault and stares in shock.

"The gold, the jewels . . . it's all gone." Delvin breathes in disbelief.

"That son-of-a-bitch! I'll kill him!" Vex screams drawing her dagger.

"Vex! Put it away . . . right now." Brynjolf demands.

Vex snarls and nearly growls into her teeth.

"We can't afford to lose our heads . . . we need to calm down and focus." Brynjolf adds.

Libby instantly grabs Vex's wrist and slowly lowers it down. Vex looks to Libby, and her snarl slowly fades away as she looks to Libby.

"Do what he says Vex." Libby whispers.

"This isn't helpin' right now." Delvin adds.

Vex sighs and sheathes her dagger. "Fine. We do it your way. For now."

Brynjolf wraps an arm around Libby's shoulder. "Delvin, Vex . . . watch the Flagon. If you see Mercer, come tell me right away." he orders.

"If I see Frey, I'll pluck his eyes from his skull with my bare hands!" Vex growls.

Libby looks to Karliah and smiles. Karliah shyly smiles back. Delvin and Vex disperse and Karliah follows. Libby is about to go, but Brynjolf's arm stops her. She looks to him and he pulls her over to a bare table. He hugs her again tightly and kisses the crown of her head. Libby smiles and nestles into the crook of his neck.

"I'm so happy you're back." He whispers.

"Me too. I'm sorry." Libby replies.

Brynjolf pulls back and tucks a few hair behind Libby's ear. "Don't be. You had good reason."

He boosts her up like a child onto the table, and Libby doesn't resist; she simple folds her legs and places her hands in her lap.

"Look, before I have you help track Mercer down I need to know what you learned from Karliah. I mean everything." He says.

Libby nods. "Well first, and obviously, Mercer killed Gallus, not Karliah."

Brynjolf chuckles. "Aye. I feared that was the case. From that last entry in Gallus's diary, it looks like he was getting close to exposing Mercer to the Guild. Anything else?"

"Um . . . well, Gallus, Karliah and Mercer were Nightingales."

"Nightingales? But, I always assumed they were just a tale . . . a way to keep the young footpads in line." Brynjolf says.

"Well, that explains my uniform." Libby motions to her black armor and cloak.

"Aye, I can see that. Certainly something I've never seen before. And I've seen everything. Was there anything else she told you?"

"Karliah and I were behind Goldenglow and Honningbrew." Libby admits

Brynjolf chuckles and lightly pinches Libby's cheek. "Trying to make Mercer look bad in front of Maven, eh? Clever lass."

Libby laughs.

"Was there anything else?"

"Mmmm, nope, that's it." Libby confirms.

"There is still one thing." Brynjolf insists.

"What?"

"Gallus is your father."

Libby feels her heart swell and swallows. Still she nods.

"He mentions you in a few entries." Brynjolf smiles. "And he would be proud of you."

"I hope you're right." Libby says.

"Well then, I have an important task for you." Brynjolf says. Libby hops down and leans her waist against the table. "I need you to break into Mercer's home and search for anything that could tell us where he's gone."

Libby gives him a looks of surprise. "He has a house in Riften?"

"Aye. A gift from the Black-Briars after they kicked the previous family out . . . a place called Riftweald Manor. He never stays there, just pays for the upkeep on it. Hired some lout by the name of Vald to guard the place." Brynjolf explains.

"Okay, I'll take care of it." Libby promises. She goes to leave when she feels Brynjolf's hand take her arm. She looks to him and finds his lace etched with concern.

"Be careful, lass. This is the last place in Skyrim I'd ever want to send you." Brynjolf says. "Just find a way in, get the information and leave. And you have permissions to kill anyone that stands in your way."

Libby nods and hugs Brynjolf.

"Maybe I should get someone else to do it, you've been through a lot." Brynjolf starts. Libby looks to him and gives him a smirk, quirking an eyebrow. "Okay, okay. Be careful at Mercer's place, I don't want to lose anyone else to that madman."

Libby smiles and hugs Brynjolf again, wrapping her arms around his neck. Brynjolf returns her hug and sighs into Libby's hair. "I'll be careful. I promise." She pulls way. "But how will I get inside?"

"There's a special kind of contraption I remember seeing on his deck. Said he installed it to make for quick escapes. One good shot should bring it down." Brynjolf explains.

Libby nods and leaves the Vault. She finds Karliah at the epicenter of the cistern, gazing at the floor, her eyes fixed on something with intensity. Libby trots up and when Karliah lifts her head, she gathers Karliah in a hug. Karliah giggles and it sounds like it's mixed with a sob.

"We did it." Libby breathes.

"Seems we have. But you and I are far from done."

"Only when Mercer's dead." Libby says. Karliah nods and exhales deeply. "I'm going to head to his house. Are you going to be okay, here?"

Karliah shrugs. "I suppose. I mean, we've proven everything, and I'm sure you've told Brynjolf everything, that I've at least told you. I should be fine. You be careful in Mercer's place."

Libby nods and heads for the sewer entrance. She stop in front of Thrynn and Etienne and gives them both hugs. Both grip her tight and squeeze as tight as Libby squeezes them. Climbing up the ladder and unlocking the sewer entrance she sticks to the back road of the graveyard. Knowing how the Guild is built within the Ratways, Mercer's house should be close enough so that can sneak underground instead of having to maneuver through the graveyard.

Libby finds the house literally a stone's throw away from the mausoleum. The gate is locked and Libby can see Vald leaning against the brick wall of stairs. Libby picks the lock effortlessly and opens the gate. Its rusty hinges attract Vald's attention and Libby ducks behind the brick wall as he approaches.

Holding her breath, back pressed against the stone, Libby creeps up behind Vald and manages to snatch the key to Mercer's house. Sneaking into the yard, but still pressed against the wall of the gate, Libby can see the contraption. Shooting it, the bridge slams down and once again Vald is led into the yard.

"Who's there? Come out where I can see you!" he demands.

Libby looks around and finds an empty mean bottle kicked to the side. Feeling in the dirt, she pulls it free and keep crouched low. Flipping so she has a firm grip on the neck, she aims high and throws it. It lands smashing against the basement door and Vald is now on high alert.

"Come out!" he demands.

As he goes to investigate, Libby swoops up the stairs and into the home. Unlike Mercer, Libby has morals.

The door takes her into an old second floor storage room with crates and barrels of food and supplies. Libby can't help but help herself to a few things like candelabrums and picture frames and perfume bottles. As she opens the door, there's a bandit marauder sitting at the bench. Libby grips and spins out her blackjack.

A blackjack is a small, easily concealed club consisting of a leather-wrapped lead weight attached to the end of a leather-wrapped rigid shaft, with a lanyard or strap on the end opposite the weight. This weapon works by creating kinetic energy in the dense core, via the spring handle, during the swing. When directed at the head, it works by concussing the brain without cutting the scalp. This is meant to stun or knock out the subject, although head strikes from blackjacks are regularly fatal.

Libby finds another wine bottle in the storage and aims it at a corner behind the bandit. She throws it and it crashes spurting red water all over the floor. The bandit jumps and looks around drawing his weapon.

"Is someone there?"

Libby swoops in as he gazes at the puddle of wine wondering how it might've fallen. Libby rises and he peers over his shoulder in time for Libby to get a perfect jab of her blackjack. Perfect hit to the dome, and the bandit falls. Libby catches him and pulls him back avoiding the puddle, but still drags his body to a small narrow closet behind the wall.

"If I were a Guild Master, my plans would be stashed way either in the basement, or a hidden room." She mumbles to herself. "I'd better start looking."

She finds a small stairway leading to the basement where there are lights on and another bandit sitting at a dining table. Candles are lit on some tables and Libby manages to creep over and with a swoop of her hand the flames are out. Libby observes the chain link to the fixture and readies an arrow. The arrow slices through the chain and it crashes to the table, splurting food fire and shards of glass over him. He screams and Libby instantly, silently dashes into a set of double doors. Closing them behind her while the bandit is still grunting and screeching in pain, Libby finds herself in an office.

A thick wood pillar is at the center and seemingly seems to be supporting the entire room. There's a fireplace on the left wall and throughout are wardrobes and shelves with bowls and troll skulls and a desk with a book and a dagger. Libby manages to find a coin purse as she scours the room. Knowing Mercer, something had to be hidden here. After looking at one wardrobe, Libby finds the other bolted to the wall. Knocking on the back panel, it slides back revealing a hidden staircase.

Further down is an office with a giant hole in the wall leading to an underground passage that's sure to connect to the Ratways. Libby turns left before coming to a room with pressure-plated floors. She first tosses a rock onto the plate and within seconds a fire spout roasts the thing in seconds.

"Gods damn you, Mercer." Libby mumbles.

She carefully navigates through the room with little hops, sometimes landing on one foot, teetering slightly, sometimes risking a few steps. At one point, she launches up in the air, over a small spout and lands on her tiptoes. But Libby overshot slightly, and her momentum throws her forward. She gives a sharp squeal as her hands hit the stone, but nothing happens. In a moment, she's regained her feet and continues until she has reached the other side of the room.

Coming to a long passageway, Libby makes another left coming to another passage with barrels and boxes scattered about. There's a sudden metallic clang and rumble and as she's in the doorway, a big axe swings out from the side. Another comes out and another along with a few battering rams.

"Fuck me up, down and sideways." Libby curses.

She watches the weapons for a moment, timing it properly. She leans down and preps one foot in front of the other like she's seen at races. She aims her vision high and when the aces swing out, as they retract, Libby dashes for the middle of the room. She just passes a battering ram and slaps her back to the wall. Once the axes swing out again, Libby dashes again to the other side. She heads down a steep slope and finds a door at the end with a little wire pulled taut at the bottom left corner.

Libby keeps close to the wall and opens the door. Instantly steel arrows shoot from two holes above the doorway. They shoot to quick that they blur together into a single arrow flickering with every blink of an eye. It only lasts three seconds, but in those three seconds, Libby could tell at least thirty arrows were shot in those single rounds.

She comes to a secret office that was undecorated, and built into the stone. A single table is against the wall with gold a few books and a bowl of jewels and jewelry. Around the legs are a couple of burial urns and on the one side is a display case with a unique looking glass sword inside. Then there's a bookshelf on the far wall with a few books an bowls and a deer skull.

The table also has a map with a red X marked on a foreign place Libby didn't recognize. Bingo. She snatches the map, rolls it tight and after picking the lock on the display case, makes off with the sword and whatever other valuables she could find; including a bust of the famous Grey Fox.

She then makes her way through more tunnels leading into the Ratway until she reaches the Guild. The door's led her to the opposite side of the Cistern from Mercer's desk. She finds Brynjolf hovering over it while the other members go about their business, though they seem more on edge on guarding the place from Mercer.

"Hey," Libby says as she jogs over the Brynjolf.

"Hey, look we've scoured the town and I've spoken to every last contact we have left. No sign of Mercer. Any luck on your end?"

"No, wasn't there; but id di find these plans." Libby says as she hands over the map to Brynjolf, while also placing the bust of the Grey Fox on the table. She makes note to speak to Delvin about it later.

"Shor's beard! He's going after the Eyes of the Falmer? That was Gallus's pet project." Brynjolf exclaims. "If he gets his hands on them, you can be certain he'll be gone for good and set up for life."

"Then we have to stop him." Libby retorts leaning her palms on the desk. Her tone is confidence and lined with fierce determination.

Brynjolf can't help but smile. "Agreed. He's taken everything the Guild has left, and to go after one of the last greatest heists is just an insult."

Libby looks around and finds Karliah mingling with Rune and Etienne. "So, what about . . ." Libby trails off but point a thumb over to Karliah.

"I've spoken to Karliah, and made amends for how the Guild' treated her. Now she wishes to speak with both of us." Brynjolf explains.

"Alright, come on." Libby says as she leads Brynjolf to the epicenter of the Cistern. Karliah stands and Libby still in her Nightingale uniform stands next to Karliah.

Thank you for meeting with us, Brynjolf. And I promise to you, and Libby, all your questions will be answered. You just have to trust me." Karliah says.

"Aye, lass . . . and I've come to a decision." Brynjolf looks to Libby and Libby automatically takes his hand and is pulled to stand at his side. Libby can feel his thumb stroke her skin and he looks to their hands as he lifts his head and speaks. "Mercer Frey tried to kill both of you, he betrayed the Guild, murdered Gallus and made us question out future. He needs to die."

"We have to be very careful Brynjolf. Mercer is a Nightingale, and Agent of Nocturnal." Karliah says.

Brynjolf looks to Libby, releases her hand and steps back to gaze at her in her black armor. "So it is true. All of it. Everything I heard in stories. The Nightingales, their allegiance to Nocturnal, and the Twilight Sepulcher."

"Yes. That's why we need to prepare ourselves and meet Mercer on equal footing." Karliah says. "Just outside of Riften, beyond the Southeast Gate is a small path cut up the mountainside. At the end of that path is a clearing and an old standing stone. Libby has already been there, so I'd ask that you'd follow her there."

"Of course." Brynjolf easily agrees.

"Then I will see you both there."

"Can't we all travel together?" Libby asks Karliah.

Karliah leans close to Libby as Brynjolf heads back towards the desk. "I think it'd be best if you went with Brynjolf."

Libby looks to Brynjolf and can see why. His eyes seem more puffy than normal, as if he'd spent multiple nights crying, along with faded bags under them as well. Libby's fake death seemed to have more of an effect on him than he allows to show. Still, Libby's known him like a father since she was a wee lass, as he would say. And Libby's always looked to him like her father. He taught Libby everything she knows about larceny and truly made her believe she had a home and family once more. Libby decides to give him anything he could need, it's the least that she could do after everything he's been through. No doubt it had to have been the roughest he's ever faced.

Without another word, Libby jogs over to Brynjolf and when he notices her, she hugs him again. It seems repetitive, but Libby doesn't know of any other way to express her love for him. He isn't the touchy-feely according to other members, still he manages to let his softer side show for Libby. She and Brynjolf leave the Guild and leave for Honeyside to stock up on supplies.


	21. Chapter 21

Dry leaves crunch under Libby's feet as she leads Brynjolf up the road Karliah described. She told Brynjolf he wouldn't need much except for his favorite weapon. Libby swore not to tell him anything due to her swear to secrecy from becoming a Nightingale.

"So what's this big thing Karliah wants, dare I ask. It sounds enough to make your head spin." Brynjolf says.

"It's pretty incredible." Libby smiles.

Brynjolf wraps his arm around her shoulder and pulls her close. He chuckles. "It's good to have you back, lass."

Libby smiles. "It's good to be back."

"Does Diamond know?" he asks with a sly smile.

"Yeah, she does." Libby chuckles. "She was the first to find out. I didn't expect her to come to the tomb to find me."

"Well, she _is_ as stubborn as a mule." Brynjolf nudges.

Libby giggles and shoves Brynjolf as they approach the path up the mountainside. They find Karliah leaning against a standing stone with the emblem of a bird etched into the stone.

Karliah approaches Libby. "I'm glad you're here." She smiles.

"So, what's the significance of this place, Karliah?" Brynjolf asks.

Karliah looks to Libby who smiles. "This is the headquarters of the Nightingales, cut into the mountainside by the first of their kind." Libby explains.

"Our, kind." Karliah corrects with a smile. "Our kind. We've come to seek the edge we need to defeat Mercer Frey."

"What kind of an edge?" Brynjolf interrogates.

"If you'll follow Libby, I'll explain on the way." Karliah says.

"Wait, what happened to capturing Mercer alive? Not that I'm complaining." Libby asks.

"From the moment you were struck with my poisoned arrow at Snow Veil Sanctum, my path changed its course." Karliah says. "Perhaps I couldn't bring Mercer back alive, but together, we were able to clear my name and put Gallus's memory to rest. I'd always intended Mercer's fate to ultimately be decided by the Guild, and it seems they've spoken."

Libby grins and turns leads the way. "This way, please."

They enter Nightingale Hall and Libby guides them through like she knows the place like the back of her hand. She walks sure-footed now. She looks back to Brynjolf who freely gazes in awe, craning his head around to gaze at each detail.

"So, this is Nightingale Hall. I heard about this place when I joined the Guild, but I never believed it existed." He says.

"The assumption that the Nightingales were just a myth was seeded in the Guild on purpose." Karliah educates. "It helped avert attention from our true nature."

Libby glances over her shoulder. "What's wring Brynjolf. I can almost hear your brow furrowing."

"I'm trying to understand why _I'm_ here, lass." He says. "Gallus was your father, but I'm no priest, and I'm certainly not religious. Why pick me?"

"This isn't about religion Brynjolf . . . it's business." Is all Karliah says as Libby continues to lead the way into the main hall. "If you'll proceed to the stone to no your armor, we can begin."

Brynjolf looks to Libby who only escorts him further. She can't help but giggle at how hesitant he seems. She takes his hand and tugs him towards the stone, and when the armor is adorned, she smiles and hugs him.

"Easy lass, don't get used to this." He says, and Libby only smiles and giggles more.

They follow Karliah down the hall that leads to hemi-circle with a set of stairs that leading deeper in.

"Okay lass we've got these getups on . . . now what?" Brynjolf asks Karliah.

"Beyond this gate is the first step in becoming a Nightingale." She answers.

"Whoa there, lass. I appreciate the armor, but becoming a Nightingale? That was never discussed."

"It's not that bad, or different Brynjolf." Libby gently reminds.

"To hold any hope of defeating Mercer, we must have Nocturnal at our backs. If she is to accept you as one of her own, an arrangement must be struck." Karliah explains.

"What sort of arrangement? I need to know the terms." Brynjolf demands.

"The terms are quite simple Brynjolf. Nocturnal will allow you to become a Nightingale, and use your abilities for whatever you wish. And in return, both in life and in death, you must serve as a guardian of the Twilight Sepulcher." says Karliah.

"Aye, there's always a catch. But at this point, I suppose there isn't much to lose." Brynjolf sighs. "But if it means the end of Mercer Frey, you can count me in."

And what about you, Libby. Are you ready to transact the Oath of Nocturnal?"

"You haven't been indoctrinated yet?" Brynjolf asks in surprise.

Libby shakes her head. "Nope. I was, nervous. But now I'm ready." She assures.

She looks to Karliah and smiles. "I'm ready."

"Good. After I open the gate, please stand on the western circle." She instructs. Libby nods.

Karliah takes the lead and opens the gate leading into a rotunda with three circle platforms. There's one giant circle at the epicenter of the room, like that in the Cistern, then that branches out to three cylindrical floor glyphs with the emblem of the Nightingales.

Libby stands on the one at the far left, then it's Karliah and Brynjolf.

Libby watches Karliah carefully. She extends out her arms, and when she speaks, the acoustics of the room make her voice boom around the walls. It echoes and rattles Libby's skull.

"I call upon you Lady Nocturnal, Queen of Murk and Empress of Shadows . . . hear my voice!"

The wind picks up despite there being to drafts to begin with. Libby watches as fog from the chasm below drifts upward and towards the epicenter of the room. Her eyes widen as the water turns a deep purple and becomes thick purple and black smoke. The entire room tints purple and a sphere of pure energy swirls and billows above the platform.

"Ah, Karliah. I was wondering when I'd hear from you again. Lost something did we?" the voice provokes.

Educated guess, that's Nocturnal.

Karliah bows to one knee and lowers her head. "My Lady, I've come before you to throw myself upon your mercy and to accept responsibility for my failure." She pleads.

"You're already mine, Karliah. Your terms were struck long ago. What could you possibly offer me now?" the voice sneers in disappointment.

"I have two others that wish to transact the Oath; to serve you in both life and in death." Karliah explains.

"You surprise me, Karliah. This offer is defiantly weighted in my favor."

"My appetite for Mercer's demise exceeds my craving for wealth, Your Grace."

"Revenge? How interesting . . ." Nocturnal stretches out the word. "Very well, the conditions are acceptable. You may proceed."

"Lady Nocturnal, we accept your terms. We dedicate our lives to you as both your avengers and your sentinels. We will honor our agreement in this life and the next until your conditions have been met." Karliah vows.

"Very well." Nocturnal says. Three smoky beams of light shine down on Libby and Brynjolf. Streams of wisps emanate from the shadowy orb of Nocturnal towards Brynjolf and Libby. "I name your initiates Nightingales and I restore your status to the same, Karliah. And in the future, I'd suggest you refrain from disappointing me again."

The orb vanishes and the room's color returns to normal. Libby blinks her eyes as she follows Brynjolf and Karliah to the epicenter of the room.

Karliah approaches her. "Now that you've transacted the Oath, it's time to reveal the final piece of the puzzle; Mercer's true crime."

"He's done more?" Libby asks with a mixture of shock and annoyance.

"Mercer was able to unlock the Guild's vault without two keys because of what he stole from the Twilight Sepulcher . . . the Skeleton Key. By doing this, he's compromised our ties to Nocturnal and in essence, caused our luck to run dry." Karliah preaches.

"So the key unlocks any door?" Libby clarifies.

"Well, yes. But the Key isn't only restricted to physical barriers." Karliah reminds. "All of us possess untapped abilities; the potential to wield great power, securely sealed within our minds. Once you realize the Key can access this trait, the potential becomes limitless."

"Sounds like no one should possess it. It can easily be abused." Libby says.

"Good, then you understand why this is about more than Mercer's lust for power." Karliah sighs. "If the Key isn't returned to its lock in the Twilight Sepulcher, things will never be the same for the Guild."

"As time passed, our luck would diminish to the point of non-existence. And whether you know it or not, our uncanny luck defines our trade." says Karliah.

"First time I've ever set out to return something." Libby chuckles.

"Very true." Karliah smiles. "In our line of work, it's quite rare we set out to returns a stolen item to its rightful owner."

"Let's go." Libby smiles.

"Before we depart, Brynjolf has some business to discuss. I suggest you listen to him."

Libby turns to Brynjolf. "Listen lass. There's one last piece of business we need to settle before we go after Mercer . . . the leadership of the Guild."

Libby feels her heart jar in her chest.

"W-why tell this to me?" She breathes through a laugh.

"Karliah and I had a long discussion while you went to Mercer's mansion. Thanks to your efforts, Mercer's treachery has been exposed. After we deal with him, all that remains is restoring the Guild to its full strength." Brynjolf explains. "As a result, we both feel that you have the potential of replacing Mercer as leader of the Thieves Guild."

Libby breathes a laugh of shock. Shen looks to Karliah who she can tell, smiles underneath her mask. "M-Me? What about you?"

"I've been at this game a long time, Libby. A long time. I've stolen trinkets from nobles and framed priests for murder. I'm good at what I do, maybe even one of the best. But it's all I know." Brynjolf chuckles. "I've never been one to lead. Never desired it, never cared for it. Don't want it."

Libby can't stop the burst of bubbly giggles. She hops up and down and glomps Brynjolf in a hug, then Karliah.

"I don't know what to say." She smiles, her eyes starting to water.

"Well we've got a bit of an errand to run before your coronation, so save the sentimental joy." says Brynjolf.

"I accept." Libby squeals.

"Then it's decided. When this is all over and Delvin's contacts assure me that we've regained our footing in Skyrim, we'll handle the details." Brynjolf promises. "Until then, we have quite the task ahead."

"Then let's get to it." Libby grins with determination.

"I've been pouring over the plans you brought us, and I'm convinced the Eyes of the Falmer are in the dwarven ruins at Irkngthand. Karliah and I will meet you there. Prepare yourself, lass. This will be a fight to remember!" says Brynjolf.

Libby nods and after a hug from Karliah and a kiss on the forehead from Brynjolf, she follows Karliah out towards the main hall.

"I guess we're Nightingales now, huh?" Libby nudges Brynjolf with her hip.

"Aye, and some of what Karliah said is starting to make sense. Mercer may have damaged our reputation and raided our coffers, but this goes well beyond even his twisted form of larceny." Brynjolf says. "Old Delvin kept calling it a curse and we all laughed at him."

Libby laughs. "Looks like the jokes on you."

Brynjolf quirks an eyebrow at her.

"I never said I didn't believe him." Libby defends. Brynjolf wraps his arm around her shoulder and pretends to choke Libby in a headlock. Libby pushes him off and keeps laughing.

"It's so good to have you back, lass."

"You've said that like three times now. I didn't know you cared so much." She teases.

"Don't get all teary-eyed. I was just upset because I had to take over your shift of raking in gold." Brynjolf denies.

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that."

Once they're out in the main hall, Karliah heads left down a hall. Libby looks to make sure they're alone and leans close to Brynjolf.

"So, do you really think we stand a chance against Mercer?" she whispers.

"If you would have asked me that yesterday, I'd said no. But now I think our chances have improved."

"But, you still don't trust Karliah?" Libby interrogates.

"I never said that. I do now. This just seems too, out of sorts."

"I know. It takes a little getting used to. But she's genuine, Brynjolf. She wouldn't lead us down a suicidal path." Libby assures.

"I suppose. Besides, I'd rather die with some of Mercer's blood on my blade then spend the rest of my life regretting that I ran the other way."

Libby nods. "So, I'll meet you at the ruins?"

Brynjolf nods. "You worried."

"A little bit." Libby admits.

"Don't worry. You'll be fine. After all, you're a thief." Brynjolf says.

"I really don't think I'm that kind of thief."

"Oh sure you are. You just don't know it yet."

Libby sighs and pulls her hood over her head. Before she leaves, Brynjolf takes her wrist.

"Just, be careful, Libby."

After leaving the Hall, Libby mounts her horse and fast travel to a dragon summit she discovered. The trip takes about two hours. She hasn't yet found Irkngthand, so she navigates her way down the mountain until she drops down into the ruin's main courtyard.

The ruins themselves are built into the mountain with towering turrets with rounded tops. Wooden plank bridges connect from one tower to another, and gives Libby the notion that bandits have made this place their home. Killing and looting their valuables was simple, but the tricky part was trying to remain unseen with her black armor contrasting with the pure white snow. With a light powdering blanketing the ruin, it could easily be mistaken as rock ridges.

Libby keeps close to the walls and kills any bandit in her way, making sure to hide the bodies, as she enters the arcanex.

Once inside, Libby toggles along, keeping her breathing steady as she sees a fire brewing ahead. Silently rolling behind a main desk, she peeks out from behind and a cry hitches in her throat.

The bandits bed rolls border around the fire, but the bandits lay bloodied and mauled. Splatters of blood dot along the fur beds and stairs from one who tried to escape. Libby creeps down and forces herself to loot their bodies for supplies. She finishes off with a middle-aged woman; there are hints of blonde in her dark hair. She tries not to look at the slash wound across her forehead, but the dim light of the fire glows on what looks like gone, and Libby gags.

_Think. I don't care who she was, or what her name was, or how old she was_. Libby's thoughts demand. _All I care about is their supplies_.

Libby adds a few more arrows to her quiver and shrugs on an extra bow before jogging up four steps and turning right. As soon as her foot enters into the next room – one with a small fountain against the one wall – she wonders if it was Brynjolf or Karliah. But they're not one to kill so, savagely; but then again they both harbor secrets that Libby would've never discovered.

The chamber is scattered with the remains of dwarven spiders and spheres. Their guts scattered across the floor and soul gems crushed. Libby can only hope that Mercer, Brynjolf and Karliah took care of most of them before she arrived. She shoves open the gate with her shoulder.

The room opens up wider and already Libby can hear the clanking of metal against metal as a Dwemer Sphere rolls along the floor; steam puffing out whenever it stops to turn. Libby looks ahead and finds one of those holders where the spiders and spheres sometimes jump out. Instead of going around, she jumps down and her arm smacks into a rock wall, making her groan. She lands on the concrete floor, hard, and pain from the impact prickles up her shins.

When the sphere goes off in another direction, Libby sneaks/limps past it, rounding a corner leading into a room of fire. Large widened square pillars spew fire from a thin indent along their bodies rotating in pace. There are spaces in between the spigots so Libby preps herself and rolls along with the pillars. She climbs over rock piles made of stairs and columns while trying to navigate her way through the ruins.

As she walks down the hallway, stepping over broken dwarven inventions, she thinks of how just a few more feet below her Mercer is tinkering away at giant jeweled eyes the size of a man's head. The thought of finally being able to face him makes her muscles grow numb, but she tries to remember that Brynjolf, Karliah and Nocturnal are at her back.

She can do this.

She vaults and climbs over rocks and piles of rubble before heading up a staircase and finding a door on her right. She finds a lever in the middle and hauls it to the right, taking her down to the grand cavern.

From there she finds Karliah and Brynjolf waiting by a door. Libby sighs and goes to hug Karliah. "Glad you're here."

"Mercer's been here too. I hope we aren't too late." Karliah says.

"So . . . those bandits back there . . ."

"Brynjolf and I found them like that. Mercer's doing. We have to catch up to him before it's too late." says Karliah.

"I'm ready. Let's go." Libby urges.

"We should tread carefully." Karliah reminds. "I wouldn't be surprised if he's left behind a few surprises for us."

Libby nods and carefully opens the door. There's the clang of metal and Libby drops to the floor as a mace comes swinging down. "You so called it." Libby snips.

Libby takes the lead and Brynjolf and Karliah follow. Once outside the hall, they come to a huge chamber where a gated guard blocks off the tower from the lower level. As Libby peeks through the bars as she passes, she suddenly pauses, an ice bomb exploding in her stomach.

"Wait, what's that?" her voice trembles. Brynjolf and Karliah come up to the gate and follow her gaze. "It's Mercer! Look . . . down there!"

"I'm on it lass!" Brynjolf says.

Libby draws her bow and readies an arrow. She tries to shoot, but the shots never hit. She slams her fist against the metal bars, causing them to rattle. She swears under her breath.

"Dammit, there's no way through!" Brynjolf hisses.

Karliah and Libby watch as he slices at the throat of a Falmer, completely unaware of his presence. A shiver crawls up Libby's spine as the sound of the Falmer choking on its own blood echoes in the quiet chamber.

"He's toying with us. He wants us to follow." Karliah seethes through grit teeth.

"Aye, lass . . . and we'll be ready for him." Brynjolf assures.

Libby can't help but snarl as she watches him enter the next chamber. She whirls around and barrels for the door around the chamber. She shoves it open with her shoulder and runs down then a ramp and around a corner to where she enters the lower level. Instantly she can spot a few Falmer walking around the room and sitting in huts.

Picking a rock from the pile, Libby aims and chucks it at the head of one Falmer. The rock shatters on impact and the thing collapses unconscious to the floor. The other that was next to it readies its sword and Libby can hear it hissing.

The trio scatter and take to the shadows.

The Falmer creeps up the steps and Karliah takes it down with an arrow. Brynjolf handles on the ones on the right, while Libby handles the left. Libby crawls atop a hut and when one comes out to investigate, the jumps and spins her blade, stabbing it through the shoulder. Brynjolf and Karliah pull the switches located on either side of the room and makes sure to avoid the switchblades that launch out of the ground.

They continue through the narrow hallway into the next room. The ruins are like a maze. She's so disoriented that she can't possibly find her way back to her point of origin to where they are now.

This place is even in more than ruins. Collapsed towers and shattered bridges pile on one another and connect into new roads and pathways. Falmer huts gather in corners and Falmers hiss and scratch.

Libby groans as she huddles between Brynjolf and Karliah.

"Looks like we can take the low road or the high road across this chamber." Brynjolf says. "You're choice."

"They'll just slow us down." Libby says.

"Whatever you want to do, just lead and we'll follow." Brynjolf says.

Higher ground would be logical, but the low road has overhangs to where they can easily conceal themselves. Libby bites her lip and decides on higher ground. She jumps and leaps across the piles, twirling and landing softly on a bridge above their heads. She draws two daggers and runs on soft feet the connecting bridges and towers. Brynjolf and Karliah follow.

As she lands on the roof of a lookout tower, when the entire room shakes. The Falmer have little to no reaction, probably because cave-ins are a normal thing here.

Her footing falters. She slides backwards, headfirst down the slope of the roof.

"Oh!" Libby's hands rush to cover her mouth, so her suppressed scream comes out as a high-pitched squeak. She fights the urge to shut her eyes as she careens towards the edge. Her foot catches on the corner of an upturned shingle and unbalances her. A heavy hand grabs her wrist and stops her at the last second, just in time for the heels of her boots to catch against the gutter. She looks up and finds Brynjolf.

He smiles. She smiles back. He effortlessly hauls her back up and Libby instantly collapses into his arms. She tries to make her breathing normal.

"Glad I caught you." He chuckles.

"Me too." Libby's breath hitches in her throat. "What was that?"

"Not something good." Karliah answers.

When the room falls silent, they hops and leap across the roofs until they find a dirt ridge and hop off a Falmer hut and quickly and quietly sprint to the other end of the chamber. An entire tower is freshly demolished. Dirt from the ceiling still sprinkles down atop two more Falmer guards.

"So this is what we heard. The entire tower collapsed." Brynjolf whispers.

"The only reason to do that would be to block pursuit. It must be Mercer." Karliah theorizes.

"I can't believe Mercer managed to bring this entire tower down." Brynjolf says.

"It's the Key Brynjolf. With it in his possession, there's no telling what he's capable of." says Karliah.

Libby loads an arrow and takes out the first Falmer at the head of the remaining bridge, and then the other across the way. They ascend further up the steps and into another small room. The slashed body of a dead Falmer lies in a puddle of its own blood.

"The body's pretty fresh." Libby comments.

"We're getting close." Karliah says.

"That strutting rooster is going for the henhouse." Brynjolf jokes with a sly smile.

"Well then, we'll play the fox." Libby smiles back.

In the next chamber, more Falmer are walking around and a ginormous Dwarven mechanism that Libby has never seen.

"Shor's bones! Look at that monstrosity." Brynjolf gasps.

Libby hangs back, enclosing herself between Karliah and Brynjolf.

"It's a Dwarven Centurion. Very powerful and very deadly." Karliah educates.

"How tough?" Libby asks.

"Enough that I wouldn't recommend facing it on alone."

"We can take the beast on or sneak around it. It's your call, lass. We're right behind you." Brynjolf tells.

"You guys get down. Get back in that corner." She orders pointing to a small abandoned hut.

"What?" Karliah questions.

"Just trust me. Please, just trust me." Libby says.

Karliah looks to Brynjolf who shrugs. "Alright."

They fall back into the hut and Libby loads an arrow. She takes a deep breath and aims it at the Centurion.

The thing roars to life and Libby hurries back toward Brynjolf and Karliah. Brynjolf instantly wraps his arm around her shoulders and shoves her to the ground. The Falmer all hiss and screech as they all charge towards the Centurion.

Karliah and Brynjolf retreat back from the entrance as the machine hisses steam and stomps the ground. It smashes one Falmer with a Warhammer hand, the air leaving its body on impact. The machine looks ahead and starts to walk, crushing the elf's head under its heavy foot. Libby gasps and holds her hand over her mouth. Brynjolf crouches around her to shield her from the sight. Libby curls her hands into fists around his cape.

She doesn't look, but she can hear the snarls, the growls, the howls of pain from the elves. The screeches and ear-piercing screeches of the Falmer go on for a couple of minutes. There's the sound of stone hitting metal and hoarse voices choking on blood. There's the cool wind sound of ice as Falmer casts a frost spell. Still there's a whack and the sound of a body hitting stone.

The noises gradually stop, Libby's vision is too blurry with tears and her hands too useless to fire an arrow. She hears Karliah load an arrow as the Centurion's footsteps approach; more in checking rather than them being spotted. She shoots and with one arrow its down, weakened by the army of Falmer.

"It's alright lass." Brynjolf coos. "It's over."

"No." Libby's voice shake, and still she forces herself to stand. "It's not over. Not yet."

With all the Falmer gone, the room is free to them. They run up the steps and across the connecting bridges to a verandah with two more huts and a Frostbite Spider den. Libby slinks to the side of one hut as a Falmer exits to enter the den. The other Falmer re-enters its hut. Libby ushers everyone forward and through the doors as quickly as possible.

Libby hopes that's the end, but she knows it's not. For the room the just entered is the Irkngthand slave pens.

As they navigate through, a wretched smell hits her nose and Libby wrinkles her nose in disgust.

"The stench . . . this place reeks Falmer." Brynjolf says.

"This must be their hive. We'll have to keep silent if we want to avoid drawing their attention." Karliah suggests.

Libby takes out a Dwarven spider and nods.

She leads them into a room where they find a couple of bones chimes and two Falmer I the room. There's a table and two torture reels. Bloody rags and embalming tools lay scatted across the table and small pits of fire are at the ends of the reels. Libby notices a lever, and instantly pulls it.

A razor fan rises from the ground and instantly spins taking out both the elves.

"Even the Falmer don't deserve the pain these implements must have inflicted. The dwarves were a cruel race." Karliah says.

The body of a thief lies on one of the tables and Libby finds a note poking out of the brim of his ragged trousers. She pulls it out and reads it out loud:

_Nobody thought they were real, but I've seen them._

_The Eyes of the Snow Elves!_

_The Dwarves thought they took them from the Falmer, but they themselves were fooled. A statue, built in secrets by the slaves, the eyes burn into you, and I see them even now. S'raffa escaped through the collapsing tunnel, but he'll never escape what we've seen. Men will never believe him, and he'll be driven mad by the knowledge that he'll never see them again._

_But I may yet see them again before I die._

Libby folds the note and tucks it away in her pocket. She looks to Karliah and Brynjolf who look to one another.

"We need to go." Libby says taking the lead.

Navigating through the halls, Libby stops when she finds the next room filled with multiple fires and huts huddled around the light.

"There's a mass of the Falmer in this chamber. We can sneak through or take them down . . . I don't care. As long as we get to Mercer." Karliah says.

Libby looks all around and finds pipes twisting and turning all around the chamber. It's aboveground and leads all the way through.

That'll do.

"This way." Libby motions.

"Aye, whatever you want to do, we're with you." Brynjolf says.

Libby nods and sneaks behind the huts keeping close to the walls. They come up towards a ramp and the clicking of Chaurus reaches Libby's ears.

"I hate those things." She grumbles.

Looking up, she finds a small rock wall that leads up to the pipes. She points and signals. Brynjolf boost Libby up, then Karliah, then the girls haul him up. They crouch along the pipes and eye the Falmer carefully as they reach the end gate. Libby drops down onto the Falmer and stabs it through the neck. No others were alarmed and Brynjolf picks the lock to the gate. He hurries them through.

They reach a narrow tunnel with a thick pipe replacing one wall. There's a hush whisper.

"I can hear water rushing through these pipes. We must be beneath a lake." Karliah says.

More pipes emerge and Libby clings to them, climbing up and along them as they enter another hive. They keep atop the pipes, crouched for minutes as they navigate. Libby's fingertips skim a pipe beside her. Not long now.

They head towards the end gate. Libby looks all around and no Falmers come out. Libby drops down beyond the locked claw gate and Brynjolf and Karliah follow. Once they re-enter a small narrow hallway, at the end they see a dwarven door.

"He's close." Karliah whispers. "I'm certain of it. We must prepare ourselves." She says.

Tremors go through her body now that she is close, making it difficult to walk. Breathing is tricky too; she stops trying to be quiet, and lets air wheeze in and out of her lungs. She concentrates on forward motion, on moving her legs even though they seem to be unwilling to support her weight.

This is the last moment she will be able to turn back. The cold air stings her cheeks and her hands as she hesitates. She can walk away right now. Take refuge in the Guild. Hope and pray and wish they still have respect for her and wish that the Guild doesn't suffer because of her selfishness.

But she can't walk away, or the guilt, the weight of Karliah's life, and her father's life, and now Brynjolf's life, will break her bones, will make it impossible to breathe.

Libby slowly pushes the door open. A hand grips her shoulder, and Libby contracts.

"We're with you, lass." Brynjolf whispers.

That is the only thing that keeps her from suffocating.


	22. Chapter 22

Blood is a strange color. Darker than one would think.

Because of the species difference, people think that Falmer blood color would be different than a human's. But it's not. They're all the same. Same color. Same blood. Does that makes us all brethren? United by the same blood.

Entering into the Irkngthand Sanctuary, it spots along the book held in the hand of the Irkngthand statue. For a moment, all Libby can do is gaze at the great statue, unable to believe that it's the only visual representation of a Snow Elf. The species of what the Falmer used to be before years of twisted suburban slavery morphed them into the vile beings that they are.

The entire room is soaring with glowing mushrooms and pipes intertwined into the cavern. Sunlight rays peek in through crevices in the ceiling and Libby takes deep breathes to calm her body. Filling it with fresh air is rejuvenating. She thought the swollen feeling in her throat would go away, but it doesn't.

Mercer stands mounted on the head of the statue, the hilt of his dagger shoved into the left jeweled eye trying to pry it loose. The right eye is already gone, leaving it nothing more than a black socket. As he pries the other one loose, Libby hears Karliah whisper.

"He's here and he hasn't seen us yet. Brynjolf, watch the door."

"Aye lass. Nothing's getting by me." Brynjolf whispers back. I can't wait to get my hands around that bastard's neck."

Libby keeps her eyes on Mercer as the eye finally comes loose and drops to the collar of the statue.

"Climb down that ledge and see if you can . . ."

"Karilah, when will you learn you can't get the drop on me?" Mercer's voice booms.

Libby shudders involuntarily. The sheathing of his sword is all Libby can hear apart from her own breaths, which grow faster by the second. A chill makes its way up her spine and spreads down her arms, giving her goose bumps.

Mercer's hand glows and his fingers clawed. When he fists his hand, a wave of blue misty light spreads around the cave and rattles the rocks. Several boulders fall from the ceiling crashing into the water below, and that somehow pierces through the haze in Libby's mind.

The entire platform beneath her feet collapses and Libby's stomach drops. Libby yelps and ends up landing on her side instead of her feet. She groans, and drags herself to prop on her hands and knees, cupping her ribcage with one hand. Panicked, Libby jolts to her feet and looks up at Karliah and Brynjolf still atop the platform by the door. Karliah nearly hauls herself towards the edge, reaching out a hand to Libby. Brynjolf peers over, and even with the mask covering his face, Libby can see the looks of fear and concern on his features.

She turns back around to Mercer and watches as pink square platforms appear as she walks down them towards the lower level of the statue. "When Brynjolf first brought you to me Libby, I could _feel_ a sudden shift in the wind." Mercer says bitterly, as is speaking to her alone gives him a bitter taste in his mouth. "And in that moment, I knew it would end with one of us at the end of a blade."

For a moment, Libby's nerves are replaced with anger, and her tone comes out steady and hard. "Give me the Key, Mercer."

"What's Karliah been filling your head with? Tales of thieves with honor?" Mercer has reached the book splattered with blood. "Oaths rife with falsehoods and broken promises? Nocturnal doesn't care about you, the Key or anything having to do with the Guild."

"It's not about Nocturnal. This is personal. You murdered my father!" Libby snarls, her anger growing and devouring her fear. But she has to remember to not let her anger blind her. Charging in head on is the best way to get oneself killed.

"Revenge is it? Have you learned nothing from your time with us?" Mercer's voice grows. "When will you open your eyes and realize how _little_ my actions _differ_ from yours? Both of lie, cheat and steal to further our own end!"

"The difference is I still have honor!"

"It's clear you'll never see the Skeleton Key as I do . . . as an instrument of limitless wealth. Instead you've chosen to fall over your own foolish code!"

"I never got to know my father because of you, and now I'm returning the favor. If anyone falls, it will be you!" Libby screams.

"Then the die is cast, and once again my blade will taste Nightingale blood!" Mercer hollers back.

Libby readies her weapon as Mercer's hand glows a strangely heavenly orange. He chucks it above Libby's head, towards Brynjolf and Karliah.

"Karliah, I'll deal with you after I rid myself of your irksome companions. In the meantime, perhaps you and Brynjolf should get better acquainted." Mercer slyly smiles.

Libby follows the ball as it crashes into Brynjolf, and casting spirals of light around him. Suddenly, his arms twitch and he lunges for Karliah.

"What's . . . what's happening?!" he charges for Karliah, spinning his dagger, and Karliah dodges gracefully, spinning on her toes and bending backwards. "I can't stop myself!"

"Brynjolf!" Libby yells.

"Damn you, Mercer!' Karliah hisses under her breath. "Fight it Brynjolf . . . he's taken control of you!"

Just as she finishes, Brynjolf rams an open palm against her chest. The strength makes Karliah fly back, but rolling with the momentum comes up on one knee.

"I'm sorry lass, I . . . I can't . . .!" Brynjolf pleads.

"Karliah!" Libby yells.

As her name leaves her lips, Libby hears Mercer's battlecry. She whirls around in time to watch him leap high in the air, sword in hand and bring it down for an immediate deathblow. Libby whips out her bow and shoots an arrow. Mercer easily deflects it and their weapons clang together. Libby quickly brings Mercer's blade aside and kicks him hard in the ribs. Despite his size, Libby's strength has increased with her training with Karliah. Mercer tries to push his sword up, and Libby lifts her weapon high, so that she's able to grab him about the chest and hurl him towards the ground. He skips across his back before sliding in the dirt to a halt.

He grins. "Not bad. Karliah, teach you that?"

Libby wants to run. She's facing Mercer alone. The Guild Master.

She tries not to think about the bandits, about the Falmer, about Gallus.

The strength of Nocturnal is with her.

Libby sheathes her bow and clicks her two Nightingale daggers together as she gently weaves back and forth. She watches Mercer's hand twitch, his fingers weaving. Libby spins her blades from hand to hand as she charges forward. At the last second, she cartwheels and chucks a small pouch towards Mercer, upon impact it breaks and explodes into a haze of blue smoke.

Mercer cries out as she's sure she hit his face and Libby leaps back as Mercer casts an alteration spell. Libby watches as his body fades away.

But the blue smoke bomb wasn't for distraction as he had assumed, instead it coats his body so that no matter where he runs, Libby can still see him. Libby gives chase, but suddenly his form vanishes, and Libby skids to a stop as she hears a splash.

He jumped in. didn't take long for him to realize that.

Libby carefully treads, listening past the crumbling of the rocks. There's a sound of metal as his blade suddenly lashes out in front of her in a smooth motion, the blade bathed in ripples of red. One slash and he could suck all the life out of her. Libby falls backwards, her spine arching and her knees bending. After the sword passes over, she snaps forward, lunging with her daggers. Once scrapes against his cuirass and catches in a crease while the other gouges the flesh underneath his chin.

Before she could finish the kill, Mercer rams an open palm against her chest. The strength of his arm sends Libby backwards, a shock wave of sound and fire exploding from the contact. Libby rolls, shadows splashing off her body and lying like deep puddles.

"Nocturnal guide me!"

Her feet touches the ground, she spins, crosses her arms and vanishes in a puff of smoke.

A long shadow stretches from the hand of the statue, and out all along the arm. And out of that shadow leaps Libby. Her feet slam into the small of Mercer's back. He cries out in pain as he stumbles forward, his sword slashing behind him blindly. Its enchantment sears some of her armor, but cut no flesh. Libby's Nightingale blade strikes Mercer, cutting a thin but bloody wound across the back of his head.

"I bring death from the shadows." Libby taunts.

Mercer falls forward, avoiding the vicious thrust aimed between his collarbone and neck that would have surely finished him. The dagger strikes his armor. The magic in both collided, strength against strength. Sparks shower to the ground. The dagger dulls. When Libby spins, thrusting it forward, Mercer twists so she stabs directly into his thick breastplate. The dagger explodes into shards that bite her hand. Blood soaks her gloves.

"I'll spit on your corpse!" Mercer yells as he goes on the offensive, slashing back and forth with his blades. Libby ducks, shifts, and leaps away like a dancer, each cut passing close enough to steal more of her life essence. When his sword stabs forward, it should have pierced her heart. Instead he cut smoke, for she is gone.

Anticipating the attack, Mercer spins, cutting the air between him and the shadows. Libby is there, her foot outstretched for a kick, but again Mercer's sword passes through only his lungs and tasting foul on his tongue. Within the smoke he hears laughter. Within the laughter he hears rage.

"The burden of death approaches!" Libby shouts.

Something sharp pierces his side just above his belt. Warm blood pours down his thigh. He feels it twist, and the pain doubles. Mercer swings, but he feels blind and dull. His swords cut air and smoke, nothing more.

Mercer strikes the ground with his blade, both hands gripping the handle to increase his strength. Power rolls from the blow, pushing away the smoke. Clean air fills his lungs. Before his head could clear he sees Libby lunging at him, her dagger aimed for his eye.

Mercer drops and spins, vaulting Libby over him. She follows through, coming up on one knee and spinning her blades out.

"A shame," Mercer says. "You could do great things with me with such skill."

Libby knows he's trying to buy time, but plays along. "So you're finally admitting it?"

Mercer charges, spinning his blade in dizzying circles between his hands. Libby holds her sword to block a kick, but Mercer pushes it aside with his own, keeping it there and ramming his other knee into Libby's diaphragm, grinning when he hears her wheeze and then slashing just above her temple. Libby screams out in pain and Mercer takes her by the scruffs of her hair and pulls her face up to his. Despite the blood pouring from her wound, his lips ram into hers, drinking in her scream like a fine wine.

Libby drops her sword. Her left hand shoots up, blocking the stab aiming towards her chest with her dagger blade. Her right hand reaches forward, grabbing Mercer's neck and crushing his throat. Before he could turn invisible in her hands, Libby shouts the name of her deity and let her full power roll forth.

Mercer's whole body goes rigid. His hair billows about, face locked in a grimace of pain. Ash billows from his nostrils and open mouth. His entire weight hangs from the fierce grip of Libby's hand.

"I claim your soul for Nocturnal!" screams Libby. She slams him headfirst to the dirt. As he gags, trying to force air through a charred throat, Libby picks up his Dwarven sword.

"Nocturnal will abandon you." He says, his voice hoarse and weak.

"Don't you see?" Libby says, the sword held in both hands, the tip touching his chest. "My faith is strong, and her presence in me is stronger. You're the one who abandoned Mercer."

Libby stabs down and twists. The essence of Mercer seep from his corpse and into Libby, healing her wounds and breathing strength through her limbs.

"Shadows . . . take me." He whispers his last breath.

"I send your soul to rest. I claim your soul for Nocturnal." Libby mumbles.

When she yanks the sword free, she spits on his corpse. She straps the sword to her belt. Turning to face the grand statue, she clasps her hands together and bows her head.

"Bless you, Lady of Shadows . . . I live another day." Libby says through a manic laugh.

She's defeated Mercer Frey. The Guild Master. Alone!

The sudden shaking of the cavern ruins her moment. Brynjolf and Karliah jump down from the ledge and hurry to follow Libby. Brynjolf envelops her in a hug and cups her cheek with one hand, checking that she's all right.

"Damn! This place is coming down!" Karliah shouts. "Quick, get the Skeleton Key and the Eye and let's get out of here!"

Looting Mercer's body, Libby takes the key, the Eyes of the Falmer, and every last valuable gem, coin and potion Mercer has stocked away in his pockets.

Brynjolf tries to push open the door. "No luck there, lass. Something must've fallen on the other side of the door because it isn't moving!"

"We have to find another way out of here before the place fills with water." Karliah says.

Libby meets Brynjolf and Karliah at the hand of the statue. Grasping Karliah's forearms, they hoist Brynjolf up as the water fills. Mercer's corpse sinking to the bottom. Libby looks all around, frantically making a plan so that she doesn't panic. The water covers her thighs.

"Quick, everyone to high ground!" she orders.

Brynjolf and Karliah follow and they leap up to the collar of the statue. The water rises, but still, Libby bought them a few seconds, and those can be very valuable to any thief. The water envelops her waist. Libby climbs around the front, gripping the nose of the head and looking up. She finds a small huddle of rocks towards the top, sunlight peeking desperately through. Every time the room shakes, small pebbles and spritz of dirt fall, coating her head. The water is up to Karliah and Brynjolf's ribcage. Libby looks back towards the water, watching.

"Karliah! Brynjolf!" they both look to her in attention. "Dive!"

Without waiting to hear their prodding, she swan dives into the water, its icy fingers gripping her arms as she plunges. She quickly swims towards the surface, and just as she break, she hears two plunges. Brynjolf and Karliah gasp for air as they break the surface.

"I hope you know what you're doing, lass." Brynjolf warns.

Libby brings out her bow and readies an arrow. She shoots it at the huddle and it only ship off a few small bits. She shoots three more, still only breaking off bits and bits. Frustrated, Libby has to sheath her weapon as the water level rises.

"It's not enough, Libby!" Karliah says.

Pulling it out again, Libby loads her bow, but this time her arrow has a rope attached to it, and she aims for the center of the rocks. The arrow sticks, and Libby tugs. At first the rope only pulls taut. It's hard to breathe, but she has to try. She needs as much air as she can get in a few seconds.

Her body rises, weightless in the water. Libby floats closer to the ceiling and tilts her head back as the water covers her chin. Gasping, Libby presses her face against the dirt above her, sucking in as much air as she can. Then the water covers her, sealing her in the cave.

_Don't panic_.

Her chest burns like she's just swallowed fire.

Libby pulls herself along the rope, praying it doesn't snap. When she feels the shaft of the arrow, she pulls at it. The water decreases her strength, still she pulls. She places her foot on the rock, and yanks with all her might. Even with the water muffling everything, she hears it. A cracking sound. Libby tugs harder, increasing the crevice and allowing sunlight in.

She hears a long, low groan.

The rocks break and Libby quickly pushes them aside as a force of air sucks her forward, she feels the movement on her face. There is air again.

Libby's body gets thrown to the ground and she gasps, swallowing water as well as air, and coughs, and gasps again, and rough but strong hands close around her arms.

Brynjolf pulls her arm across his shoulders and hauls Libby to her feet, Karliah clumsily hurrying ahead. Libby stumbles beside Brynjolf and through water and out into a tunnel. Libby slips and slides on the dirt as they speedwalk through, following the bronze pipes as fast as her weak legs can muster. Her feet leave the ground and Brynjolf carries her with both arms.

As Libby coughs and wheezes, she hears Brynjolf coo to her calmly. Her heart steadies and she manages to force the water out of her lungs. Once they reach the end of the tunnel, Libby finds out they are in Bronze Water Cave.

Brynjolf walks over to a small ground pipe and sets Libby down. He walks around to her front and kneels. He pulls down her hood, hair soaked and a red line goes across her nose from her mask.

"Are you alright, Libby?" he asks.

Libby nods. "Yeah," she vocalizes. Her throat hoarse. She looks up to Karliah, and smiles. Even with the mask, she can tell Karliah smile back, as she rushes in and gathers Libby in a hug. Bursts of sob laughter escaping her lips.

"I can't believe it's over." Karliah sobs through her laughs. "Twenty-five years in exile and just like that, it's done."

Libby laughs and digs through her pockets and pulls out the Key. It's a peculiar thing. The head of it black with neon blue swirls, then the hilt and shoulder a rustic color of brown leading all the way to the shaft. The notches are on either side and in the oddest shape, like a square someone decided to just cut in random spots and angles.

"All that remains is to ensure the safe of the Skeleton Key." Karliah breathes.

Brynjolf pats Libby's shoulder and pulls her in, kissing the side of her head. "Compared to fighting Mercer, sounds like it'll be simple enough."

"I'm afraid it's not."

"The hell it isn't." Libya mumbles.

"I understand you're probably frustrated, and I encourage you to take a rest. But let me just give you a warning." Karliah persuades.

"Fair enough." Libby says as she wrenches her hair.

"When the Skeleton Key was stolen from the Twilight Sepulcher, our access to the inner sanctum was removed." Karliah explains. "The only way to bring it back will be through the Pilgrim's Path."

"I take it you never used the Pilgrim's Path?"

"It wasn't created for the Nightingales. It was created to test those who wished to serve Nocturnal in other ways." Karliah explains. "As a consequence, I have no knowledge of what you'll be facing."

"Then we'd best get started." Libby says and goes to get up.

"Whoa, whoa, steady there lass. You just took down Mercer Frey and nearly drowned." Brynjolf stops her, putting his hands on her shoulders and sitting her back down.

"But I didn't drown." Libby says.

"Still, give yourself time to gather."

"Why aren't _you_ saying anything?" Libby asks.

Brynjolf frowns. "I'm afraid I'm needed back at the Guild to keep order while you're away."

Libby looks up. "Karliah?" she nearly begs.

"I'm sorry Libby, but I . . . I can't face Nocturnal after my failure to protect the Key." She whimpers. "I'm afraid you'll have to face the end of your journey alone."

Libby felt like crying. But she tries to convince herself that after her battle with Mercer, this will be a walk in the park. Yet she wishes Karliah or Brynjolf would still join her, just so she won't have to feel that annoying urge for company. Still she holds her head high and smiles.

"Don't worry, I'll return the key." Libby promises.

Karliah sits down next to her while Brynjolf scopes out the rest of the cave. "Here. Take this with you. I'm not certain if it will help within the walls of the Sepulcher, but I certainly don't need it as much as you."

Libby watches as Karliah slings her bow off her shoulder, and hands it to Libby. Libby looks to her with a look of shock. Karliah nods, and Libby reluctantly takes it with shaky hands.

It's a beautifully crafted black bow with exquisite balance, and an elegant design where the curves of the limbs suggest the wings of a bird extended in flight. On the upper limb, the symbol of the Nightingales crest embalms just above the grip, and the tendrils of pale blue along the limbs give the bow a touch of elegance. Buzzing in her hands, Libby remembers the enchantments and carefully sets it in her lap.

"I've had this bow almost my entire life, and it's never let me down. I hope it brings you the same luck."

"Karliah . . . thank you." Libby chokes on her words.

"I know Gallus would be proud," Karliah replies. "and I can't think of a better way to honor you, as a fellow Nightingale."

Libby and Karliah embrace one another and Libby can feel her draw a shaky breath. "Be careful, Libby. There are bound to be some obstacles in your path, whatever it may be."

"When am I ever not careful?" Libby smiles.

Karliah merely chuckles in reply and strokes Libby's hair.

After exchanging a hug and trading the Eyes with Brynjolf, Libby hugs him goodbye and dries her clothes with a spell she learned from Enthir. With her clothes dry and her hair braided once more down her back, Libby grips the key in her hand.

With Karliah's bow, Mercer's sword and her father Nightingale blade, Libby steps out and heads south to the Sepulcher.


	23. Chapter 23

Diamond tries to remove the wrappings from her arms, only to find that they were practically melted into her skin. She tried pulling them off, only to have it result in scabs the size of her pinky nail. Only when Veera comes in to call to her for a bath does Diamond find out that the wrappings are enchanted; courtesy of Kiara.

Veera explains on how the wrappings can so easily come undone while in battle and require the most delicate of hands and mass of time to keep them presentable. Not to mention they can be hot in summers, and bitterly cold with the weather in Skyrim. Veera explains how Kiara made the wrappings thermal controlled, so that in summer it is cool, and in winter regions, holds in heat. Also it's what creates the wrappings to go black when she goes into stealth.

Veera quickly heals Diamond's scabs and escorts her down the hall. Despite Malick's sour attitude, Diamond had to admit, there are some things about the Faceless' headquarters that have its perks.

One being the steaming warm bath that awaits her in an elegantly designed bathroom. The nine-foot-wide granite tub protrudes out from whole wall, a long window stretching up high towards the ceiling where a tiered crystal chandelier sparkles. Outside, the window is overlooking the mountains beyond. It's three steps up to the tub, three steps down to the bottom. Veera's added a small bag of dried flowers that perfumes the air.

"I'll give you some privacy. When you're done, there's a towel and you can just leave the room." She instructs.

"Thanks." Diamond says over her shoulder. She doesn't bother asking about how to remove the wrappings, assuming somehow they'll be easier to remove now that Diamond has the intention of bathing.

As she assumed, with a shrug, she removes them and casts them aside on an ecru vanity, along with her shift. She undoes her braid and lets her hair fall to her shoulders, massaging her scalp. Looking in the oval mirror, Diamond tries to ignore the spots left by her scabs and steps up to the tub. She sighs as she steps deeper until she's up to her neck in suds. The water wafts off a scent of lavender and Diamond rests her head back on a neck pillow.

_This isn't so bad_, she thinks. For the first time since her arrival, since Astrid notified Diamond of the existence of the Faceless, Diamond allows herself to think about what it would be like to be an official member of The Faceless.

They've managed to spread their influence throughout Skyrim in a matter of days. They've slandered the name of the Brotherhood, and they claim to fight for a good cause. And people seem to believe them.

_Fighting for the rights of women in Skyrim_, Diamond remembers Malick saying. _With how they treat women in this land, it's disgusting_.

_We give voice to women. We protect them from rape and violence. And if we're too late, we offer them recompense_. Veer had said.

Diamond has overheard through Eloira how woman are talking about the Faceless. How they feel safer with them hiding in the shadows. How they now feel like they can walk the streets at night without worrying about getting violated by drunkards or bandits, or even their own guards. Honestly, there's something to be said about the Faceless, if they make citizens feel safer than their own guards.

Diamond would argue how their cause is true, but the approach is insufficient. But then again, they kill to avenge women who've bene violated and even avenge the wives and spouses of men. The Brotherhood kills for people who hold jealousy, rage, anger, resentment, greed.

Not to mention without their wrappings and masks, they're, decent people. People with stories; and unlike in the Brotherhood, they're genuine stories. Veera was forced after her family was murdered for resistance. Eloira was a prostitute who was 'rescued' into the faction, Malick was the one who saved her. All their deeds are good, yet, they're an assassination group.

Perhaps the spillage of blood is the only way to make Skyrim's inhabitants understand anything.

Another thing that picks Diamond's attention, is that they don't seem to worship or follow and form of daedra or god. Diamond always assumed that any faction follows some form of deity for inspiration.

The Brotherhood has Sithis. The Guild has Nocturnal. Even the Companions have Hircine, the god of the hunt. Diamond can't think of any daedra or god that could fit with the Faceless, but then again, perhaps thriving without a deity is what makes them even more

She suddenly plashes the water with her palm, disgusted and disappointed in herself for even thinking that the Faceless tops the Brotherhood. No matter what anyone else thinks, the Brotherhood still shines bright. Having no deity makes them weak.

Aggravated, Diamond sinks down into the water, beneath its skin, letting it block out the sounds around her. It's quiet here, the outside noise muffled and distorted by the water around her. Diamond pretends she's in a cocoon, asleep, the world passing her by, and when she wakes, all of this will have been a bad dream.

The water's cooling by the time Diamond finally decides to shampoo her hair and attack her skin with soap. She scrubs until her skin is pink and tingling. Stepping out, she dries herself off and pulls on a silk nightgown. She looks to her wrappings, and before she reaches for them, Diamond decides against it. Loving the feeling of her skin free and touchable, allowed to breathe.

Diamond leaves the bathroom and takes the twenty-foot trek back to her room.

With a fiery blaze burning in her chest, she yanks open the drawer to the dresser and find her Brotherhood uniform entombed at the very bottom of the drawer. The purple seems to have faded, enough to make a pale magenta. It'll have to do.

Even if Diamond admits that she like having Veer nearby, even though she only does it because of her orders from Zusa, most of the time it didn't feel a part of her orders. Perhaps she just enjoys the company of someone who respects her out of her skill, not age.

Pushing away the thought and nagging feeling of guilt, Diamond pulls on her Brotherhood uniform, and while feeling unwashed against her body, she sighs, and feels her lips automatically contort into a smile so wide, it mimics a grimace. She lets out a manic giggle as she pulls on her gloves and boots before stepping in front of the mirror. Diamond proudly smiles at herself as she pulls her hair into a tight ponytail. Watching her pink tips braise over her shoulder, Diamond laughs still.

She pulls on her cowl and drapes the hood far over her head, concealing her eyes.

She can do this. She's an assassin.

Diamond snatches the enchanted dagger Eloira gave her, and tucks it into her belt. She said the dagger has magical properties that allow it to slice through the thickest armor and draw a river of blood from even the slightest cut. Every member is obligated to have one, next to their own weapon of choice. At the last second, reasoning wither herself that it's entirely essential for her escape, Diamond grabs the dark purple cloak and clasps it about her shoulders.

Slipping through the ajar door of her bedchambers, Diamond finds the hallways dark. Whether or not this is a god thing is left to be questioned.

_Don't think too much. Just move_. She thinks to herself.

Diamond takes off down the hallway, her feet muffled by the thick runner carpet that seem to stretch all the way to the exit. If Diamond remembers correctly, if you just keep straight instead of going left and right to the rooms, the hallways leads straight from front door to back door. Her cloak flapping behind her, Diamond halts, ducking behind a mannequin bearing the bloodied clothes of a Forsworn.

She's near Zusa's 'trophy room' Veera once quoted during their tour of the mansion. This wasn't far from the front door. Or perhaps the back door would be wiser.

_Don't overthink_!

Diamond checks perimeter and dashes again. She's made it to the grand foyer, icy shafts of moonlight pouring in through the windows that replace the walls. For shadowy assassins, they sure love their light. Despite Diamond's instincts, she steps out into the open and basks in the moonlight; fully out stretches her arm out to her sides and feels like screaming in happiness.

One step closer.

"It's not safe to hide beyond the perimeter of the estate." A voice says behind her. Diamond flinches, fingers tightening around her dagger.

"Why is that, Malick?" Diamond asks. Even though Diamond has seen all their faces, she's learned to identify all the Faceless by their voices. It was either that or look like a fool for constantly asking the name of whomever she was speaking to. Malick's being the easiest given his gender difference.

She whirls around to find Malick, crouched atop the stairs, his hands gripping the banister portion between his ankles. Squat atop the banister like the way Diamond has seen Libby do on tree branches before ambushing a caravan. His now fully-covered face stares back at her. At least, Diamond thinks he's staring at her. The moonlight reflects off the thin white cloth, making it impossible to peer through it. How any of the Faceless members can see at all still baffles her.

"Something might happen to you." Malick says. He stands, then pushes off the banister, flips forward a couple times in place before dropping down the full ten-foot height and landing smoothly with one leg bent the other stretched out to the side. "Something unfortunate."

So graceful, even for a man. He slowly rises to stand, no weapon drawn.

"I appreciate your concern." Diamond says in a steady tone. "But I can take on bandits and any lowlife that dares challenge me."

With his face fully covered, Diamond can't help but now treat this like a predator and prey skit. With his eyes covered, she can't read his intention or his emotions. He's now unpredictable. And Diamond now realizes that's what they were betting on.

Another point to the Faceless.

"You act as if I speak of threats beyond the gates of the estate. It's Zusa who might do something unfortunate should she fear you attempting to flee."

Diamond swallows, and she stares turns her back to him, facing the door in hopes of keeping the strange man from reading her reaction.

"Why would she think I'd be fleeting? I made a deal with her. And as a Brotherhood, I always honor my deals."

At this, Malick lets out a laugh. It's so rough, so sudden, that Diamond jumps.

"Yes, yes. Of course. Your Brotherhood pack. That is why you remain here, fighting for yourself while they sit in their burrow, unscathed of your absence. That is why you lower your gaze when you talk about how they treat you. Astrid may be a fool, Diamond, but do not treat me as such, nor my sisters."

Diamond feels her neck turn red. That's the first time he's ever called her by her name. Even when they fought before she headed to the ruins, even when she was forced to stay here, he's never said her name once. Until now. The fact sends a tingle of happiness through her chest, like the small pinch of static.

But as for her feelings towards the Brotherhood, is she really that terrible at hiding how she felt? Or are the Faceless just that good at reading people? Seeing his masked face, that aura of danger that settles around Malik as comfortably as the dark purple cloak she wears, Diamond dares hope it is the latter. She tries to decide how to continue their conversation, it at all. Zusa is his employer. Yet he seems to speak only with contempt for her . . .

"Forgive me then," Diamond says. "Sometimes we must share a contract for reasons other than bonding."

"Such as?" Malick takes toed-steps closer, approaching Diamond like prey.

But Diamond isn't going to run.

"Power. Reputation. Respect."

"If you think Astrid gives you any of that, then you are as big a fool as she. Go back to bed, Diamond. I'd hate to see you punished needlessly."

Malick reaches out, grabbing her arm. Diamond refuses, instead pulling away and glaring.

"I'm no fool either!" Diamond says. "What else can I do? My mistress will have be banished, blaming me for treason and mutiny thank to you damn feminists! I was close to earning her respect, but now what am I? Nothing more than traitor who turned her back because she's ungrateful and so easily swoon! I know Astrid will probably never see me worth of the emblem of the Brotherhood, but I will spend the rest of my days proving her wrong!"

Malick stands there, his arm still holding her. Diamond meets his unseen stare, not caring anymore, not willing to keep up the act. She is alone, damn it, this is supposed to be her tiny sliver of hope.

Slowly the wrapped fingers release her.

"Diamond . . ." Malick starts to say, then pauses. "What if . . . what if I were not in Zusa's employ?"

Diamond swallows, remaining silent.

"What I," Malick continues, turning slightly away from here. "What if the only reason we serve her is because of falsehoods she's embedded in our minds."

"Falsehoods? You men she's not out to preach the rights of women?"

"Her cause may be true, but the woman is a lie. She only cares about reputations and presentation."

Diamond thinks. It is, unusual how all the Faceless are incredibly attractive. Their stories may be true, yet Zusa is using them for all the wrongs reasons. If she wants to extend the cause, she needs to be accepting of all, yet she only take those of incredible beauty. She only wants the pretty women to have it better. Those who aren't that of her stature of her allure might as well die in a ditch. Perhaps that's what she'll do once her influence has seeped permanently into Skyrim. It's hypocritical, Diamond realizes piecing it together.

She shakes her head.

"Even in know not to mess with Zusa, Malick. Those who run away from her, they die."

"What if Zusa was no longer alive?"

Diamond grips her dagger with white knuckles. "No. No that is suicide. Go back to sleep if that's the best plan you have. I'm leaving."

Malick turns to her fully again, his cloak rustling as it folds around him, hiding his muscular form.

"She's already influenced you," he says, just before leaving. "Remember there are two types of mercenaries. There are those who work for coin, and those who think for themselves."

"And which are you?"

"I am the best of the best, Diamond."

She waits until Malick is at the top of the stairs, then runs. Her cloak flaps and flutter behind her and her feet sloth through the mud leftover from a shower easily enough. The mud splashes across her calves and stomach. No turning back, she thinks as she rushes along the other side. Everyone wants the Brotherhood dead, wanted her to pledge her allegiance to a new faction she has no interest of. Enough is enough. She'd rather risk the wilds, rather go to a guard and throw herself at their feet and beg for mercy, muddy uniform and all.

Diamond looks back once, sees Malick watching from atop the hill, and swears.

Whatever distance she's made suddenly seems irrelevant. Her legs pump as she flies across the grasslands, but she's already tried fleeting them once. The Faceless are bizarre creatures, impossibly fast. Her only hope would be to lose him, but how? All around are grass and gently sloped hill. There are no trees, no buildings, no real way to hide.

Her teeth clenched, she chokes down a scream.

Why did she have to remain? Why did he have to lurk and watch and ruin whatever hope she has of escape?

Barely visible in the distance she sees a river, and she wonders if she might be able to use its current to float away. Its waters will be ice, though, and she wonders if she can endure it for any length of time. Her feet, caked with mud, already are turning numb. Her breath burns in her lungs, and she runs and runs, but it doesn't matter. Hands touch her shoulders, a foot slips beneath hers, and then she tumbles. Diamond rolls along the grass, which is wet and loose from proximity of the river.

Malick follows, collapsing atop her as she sinks into the cold ground.

"Why?!" Diamond nearly screams at Malick. "Why couldn't you just let me go?!"

Malick grabs her shoulders and twists, forcing Diamond to look at him as pins her to the ground. As Diamond watches, he tears off the thin white cloth to reveal his piercing sapphire blue eyes.

"Because I would have you _face_ this." Malick says. "You will not run. Running gets you a knife in the back. But a Brotherhood pawn stands tall, dagger in hand."

"And dies stabbed in the chest." Diamond says, feeling tears slide down the sides of her face.

"Never. No matter what happens, no matter who your master is or what your mane becomes, I will not allow it."

Diamond stares at him, mouth agape in shock. For a moment, the mixture of emotions becomes overwhelming and her vision is blurry with tears, obscuring those beautiful eyes. But it rewards her with his soft, wrapped fingers brushing against her cheeks. Diamond realizes he is still pinning her to the ground, and feels a lump in her throat, and she tries to swallow it down.

"Why," she asks. "Why would you do that for me?"

Malick stands, the offers her a hand.

"The lies of others have twisted you, treated you as a piece in a game, or a stair step to mount themselves higher up. I understand this far more than you can understand, Diamond. But it will not repeat itself, not this time. Not when I have the strength to prevent it."

It takes all her strength, but Diamond reaches out and accepts his hand. Pulled back to her feet, her knees give way and she collapses into Malick's chest. He grips her biceps hard, but it's only for a second as she feels him slip his arm underneath her knees and her feet are lifted from the ground. The pressure gone is a relief alone.

What does this mean? What does it change?

"Come," Malick says, his one arm reaches all the way around her shoulders, so he still holds her hand. "Back to the house before they notice your absence."

Diamond remain silent, daring in her heart to trust the strange man. Upon their reaching the mansion, Diamond notices another Faceless, probably Eloria, notice her muddy Brotherhood uniof0rm, but says nothing. She normally might've asked questions, but Malick's presence stills her tongue.

Towards her bedchambers they go, Malick with no apparent desire to leave Diamond. Diamond hopes to change clothes before Veera sees her, but instead they find her putting clothes away in her Diamond's dresser.

She looks to them and quirks an eyebrow, noticing the mud and the tearing of her clothes. Diamond thinks for an answer, but is not given time.

"She slipped near the stream," Malick says. "But don't worry, she is strong as ever." Eyes still uncovered, he looks to Diamond. "Isn't she?"

"Yes." Diamond says, praying it is true, but not willing to believe it.

Not yet.

Veera leaves without asking questions, or perhaps without care. Diamond feels Malick set her on the bed and pull down her hood. With mud smeared on her cheek, Diamond can't look him in the eyes with his clean white cloth and contrasting blue eyes. Her hair still in ponytail, she looks down and away.

"So this is what you look like?" Malick asks, but it was observant it sounds more like he's stating a fact.

Diamond nods.

"I almost forgot."

Despite the white cloth, Diamond could tell he was smiling. Without wanting him to do it himself and making her feel like a child, Diamond folds her ponytail and unzips her armor from behind. Malick has gone over to the vanity where a beautifully decorated bowl and pitcher are, pouring warm water and dipping a white rag into the water.

Diamond quickly changes into the silk nightgown and lets her hair fall over her shoulders. She drapes the muddy uniform over the end board of the bed and sits with her legs pressed together, hands in lap.

Malick wrenches out the rag before walking back over. Without consent, he takes Diamond's chin and behinds to clean a small cut near her temple. Doused in mud Diamond didn't notice it until he takes the rag away and once corner is dotted with red specks.

"You can't seem to keep it clean, can you?" Malick says.

"Hmph, now that's funny." Diamond mumbles with a shy smile.

Malick adjusts his cloak, cinching it tighter about his body. Diamond catches sight of a long dirk tucked into his belt, the sides of its hilt painted red. The blade cures up and down like the waves of the ocean, and she shudders at the thought of its piercing her flesh.

It shocks her more that Malick was armed, and didn't even bother to pull it out.

After his gently pats and rubs, Malick son scrubs Diamond's cheeks, dipping the rag repeatedly into the water, causing it to turn pink and grey.

"That should do you good until morning." He says, finally taking the bowl and dumping it out the window.

Diamond pulls her hair into a low ponytail and sighs.

"Everything will be fine." he says.

"Easy for you to say."

"It's not. You're far more valuable to her than me. Though I don't see how."

Diamond looks up and finds him kneeling in front of her. With her sitting on the edge of the bed, he's only lower than her by an inch.

Ignoring her warming cheeks, Diamond sniffs, wipes her face and smoothes down her hair.

"Do I look like I've been crying?" she says.

"Hmm." Malick leans in close, narrowing his eyes like he's inspecting her face. A smile tugs at the corners of his moth. Even close, so they would be breathing the same air – if Diamond could remember how to breathe.

No, Diamond." He says. "You look tough as nails."


	24. Chapter 24

Diamond wakes to Veera shaking her shoulder and tapping her cheek with the other. She's already wearing her purple and black wrappings coiling up to her throat. Her face exposed, she's pulled her air back into a ponytail using one of her wrappings.

"Come on," she says. "Up and at'em."

Diamond means to say something, but all she can do is groan. Her body aches so badly it hurts to breathe. It doesn't help that last night's bout of running and crying made her eyes swell. Veera offers Diamond a hand.

"Breakfast is served. If you don't hurry you might get some of the lame scraps." Veera giggles.

Diamond grunts. Trying not to bend at the waist, she fumbles in the drawer of the dresser for her wrappings. Veera opens the drapes and folds over Diamond's sheets. As Diamond ruffles through the drawer, she finds her wrappings gone, as well as her Brotherhood uniform. Only does she then realize she's wearing a silk nightgown.

Today marks the second day she's in the mansion of the Faceless Assassins.

"Hey where are my wrappings?" Diamond asks as she catches Veera tucking the sheets in.

"Oh, Malick took them to be washed. Same goes for your armor. It'll be ready by noon." Veer nonchalantly says.

"Okay, so what am I supposed to wear?" Diamond asks, weary she already knows the answer.

"I think he said he left something for you." Veer says as she walks past Diamond. "It should be in the bottom drawer."

"Eww, some of his old wrappings? I'll bet he didn't wash them either." Diamond complains.

"Don't worry. You'll just wear it until now." Veera smiles.

"But you didn't deny that it could be his old wrappings." Diamond eyes.

"Just throw _something_ on and get down to dinner!' Veer laughs. She walks through the doorway and takes a turn left. "I'll come back for you!" she calls.

Diamond sighs in aggravation and crouches her legs to reach the drawer. She pulls open the drawer and freezes. Malick's old shirt, possibly the one she saw him wearing when she first woke up in the Faceless Headquarters, is folded neatly and tucked at the top of the drawer. Diamond feels her insides twist, thoughts already running ramped in her mind at what the other members might think.

Surely they had suspicions since he _is_ the only male. But what will they think? Will they gang up against her? Kick her out? Ignore her?

"_Stop it_! _Don't over think this_!" Diamond hears Libby's voice lecture. "_You always overthink, then not only does it not turn out that way, but you're letting your thoughts distract you from the mission at hand_."

Diamond sighs and takes out the shirt. It stops at her thighs and she pulls on a pair of breeches. When Veer returns, Diamond's just pulled her hair into her ponytail.

"Awww! Look at you!" she squeals. "You're dressed like his girlfriend!"

Diamond quickly clamps her hand over Veera's mouth. "Shut up!" she whispers. "Quiet!"

"Oh my gosh!" Veera mumbles through her mouth. She pulls off Diamond's hand. "Is that why you went out last night?!" she dramatically gasps. "Did he-!"

"No! Shut it! You'll let the whole house know!"

"Know that you're not a-!"

"NO!" Diamond exclaims. "Nothing happened!" Diamond sighs and rubs her face, pinching the bridge between her nose. When she speaks again, she lowers her voice. "I tried to sneak out last night. But he caught me."

Veer's excitement fades, but she doesn't lash out at Diamond. Instead, she shrugs. "I understand. You never like this place, but please, just give it a chance until you leave." Veera softly says.

"I'm sorry." Diamond mumbles.

"For what? Following your heart? I wish I could do something like that." Veera compliments.

"Well it's just, you've bene so nice, and I don't want you to think that it was all, a waste. Like . . . you've been so kind to me, and nice, and I feel like I just took advantage of you -"

"Diamond," Veer stops her. "you didn't take advantage. Believe me, I know what it feels like to be taken advantage of."

Diamond feels her heart ache at Veera's continuing kindness and understanding. She follows Veera out, trying not to snap back at her constant talk and 'visions' of Diamond and Malick wandering through the woods of Skyrim and diving in the clear waters of Cyrodill.

If the other members had questions about last night, they didn't bring it up at breakfast the next morning. Neither did Malick.

Walking into the dining hall, he sits in his usual spot, his head only looking up to see Diamond wearing his shirt. She thinks she sees him smile, but she can't be sure. Eloria sits next to Kiara while Ms. Lulu sits by the fireplace on a plush couch.

Diamond is hesitant to sit next to Malick, but remembers she has no reason to be despite what everyone else might think. If they think anything of it.

Looking over, Malick's already filled his plate. Diamond slides into her seat and is instantly awed at the enormous platters of food. Eggs, ham, piles of fried potatoes. Buttered pancakes with butter and syrup, thick waffles topped with seasonal berries and powdered sugar. A tureen of fruit sits in ice to keep chilled. Even the basket of rolls they set before her is more exquisite than the food served in the Sanctuary, since she's being honest with herself. There's an elegant glass of orange juice.

"Aw man!" she hears Veera shriek.

"What?" Diamond asks.

"They're out of muffins! And I had my heart set on a delicious blueberry. I told you we should've gotten here sooner, now we got stuck with the scrapes!" she pounds her fist against the table.

Diamond looks to her in shock, half the mind to slap her cross the face. Compared to the food Libby and Diamond see on a basis, this is close to sitting at the Jarl's palace. "_These_ are scrapes?!"

She hears Malick chuckle. "To Veera it might as well be." Diamond turns to him and finds him smiling. Diamond tries to ignore a sudden cramp in the pit of her stomach. "Anything that isn't a muffin might as well be food for the dogs."

"_Ugggghhh_! Why?!" Veera exaggerates. She facepalms the table and weeps.

Diamond laughs at her childish behavior when she feels a hand grip her shoulder. Diamond tenses. "How're you feeling?"

On instinct, Diamond jerks way and looks to Malick. She swallows before answering. "Um, I'm fine. My legs just hurt though." Diamond makes sure Veera doesn't here their conversation, though Diamond doubts she can hear anything over her whimpering.

"Careful with your wording." Malick grins.

Diamond looks away, her cheeks feeling warm, and loads her plate. She debates on having a conversation with Eloria or Kiara, but Eloria seems caught up in a book she's reading, and usually when Diamond talks to Khajiits, they're stories usually depress her.

As she scours the table to load her plate, she finds a plate of bacon. Next to it had to be the plate of sausage. Diamond sighs and grabs a breakfast roll instead. Sitting back at her seat, she fills up a glass of milk. As she's devouring some pancakes, she sees a small side plate with two sausages push towards her. She looks to Malick and finds him leaning on his hand, his other still directing the plate towards Diamond.

Gratitude surges in Diamond's chest, warm and a little like an ache.

"I figured you'd want some. I don't much like bacon either." He says as she shifts his gaze ahead.

"Thank you." Diamond smiles.

Malick clicks his tongue in a _tch_, "Don't give me that look. I just didn't want to hear _you_ complain either. You're probably more annoying than Veera, and believe me, that's saying something."

"Don't tempt me." Diamond snaps back.

Despite a small sting in her chest, Diamond expected no less. In fact, it feels nice to have him insulting her again, despite what was said last night. As she's halfway through her breakfast, she sees Malick finish a glass of orange juice and leave his seat.

"I'm heading out. I'll be a while, so we'll start in the training room at noon." He says.

"Oh, okay." Diamond agrees. "Where are you going?"

Malick looks to her and presses his pointer finger to her forehead. "Think, dumbass." She smirks.

Diamond smacks his hand way as her thoughts connect the moment he finishes talking. A contract. Diamond is tempted to ask if she can tag along, to see Malick in action would be, interesting. But she already knows because of her stunt last night he'll deny her permission. Then what is she supposed to do until he gets back? Train? Sleep?

She could hang around with Veera, but Diamond doesn't know how long she can take her interrogation assuring herself that something is going on between Diamond and Malick.

"I'll come and get you when I get back." Malick says as he readies to leave. As he passes Diamond, she stiffens as she feels his hand on her head. It shakes back and forth, messing her hair.

Was, was he petting her head?!

Diamond waits until he's smoothed his hand over and has left the room. Her face flushing red. The sudden notion seems to have gone unnoticed, and Diamond can't get over how out of character that was for him. Then again, she does' know him enough, and since Veera has exploded into flames, either it's something he does, or she didn't notice.

As Diamond finishes her plate, she notices another member, the Unknown, Diamond's now decided to name her, enters the dining room from the opposite doors. Diamond watches her as she glides past Ms. Lulu with a gentle touch on her shoulder. Ms. Lulu smiles and brushes her fingers against the Unknown's hand.

She heads for another exit and Diamond springs from her seat and quickly steps in front of her. The Unknown jumps back a couple feet, startled. A hand reaching for her dagger on habit. Diamond is surprised how much taller she is to Diamond at least up close.

"Uh, sorry, um . . ." Diamond stutters as she tries to find the right words of introduction. "I don't think we've met, a-at least officially. Um, I'm Diamond."

Diamond extends out a hand to shake. The Unknown doesn't take it. With her white cloth mask, Diamond can't tell if she's glaring at her, or arching an eyebrow in confusion. Without the ability to determine her mood, Diamond feels her face flush from embarrassment. She can tell that the Unknown glances at her hand, looking at it like a viper ready to strike. Diamond lowers her hand, torn between declaring her bitchy or shy.

"So, will you tell me your name or will you be one of those, mysterious types? I've met everyone else, just not you." Diamond continues, forcing a smile. From across the table, Diamond can see Eloria looking at them.

Kiara's voice suddenly calls. "Diamond." Her voice startles Diamond and she turns to look at her. Zusa wishes to see you in her chambers."

Diamond gulps and nods her head. When she turns back, the spot where the Unknown member stood seconds before is now vacant. Diamond curses in her head and stomps her foot in aggravation, but soon it's replaced with fear as she fully processes what Kiara just said.

Zusa wants to see her. Most likely because of her escape attempt.

Betrayal. That's the first thing Diamond feels, which is ludicrous. For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first. Between Diamond and the Faceless. Somehow, Diamond isn't surprised by how she suddenly knows within a day. Much like the way Astrid runs the brotherhood, guess the same rules apply for any organization. Nothing happens without the leader knowing about it.

Diamond makes sure to pile her plates neatly before heading down the hall that leads towards Zusa's room. Following by her memory of when Veera escorted her, Diamond steps left and into the hall of paintings. Following all the way down, she begins to feel the trademark symptoms of fear: sweaty palms, racing heart, tightness in her chest, dry mouth, a lump in her throat, difficulty breathing.

When she reaches the big oak doors, Diamond lifts her shaking hand and taps the wood with her knuckles. At first there's no answer, and Diamond thinks she may have tapped too lightly, but as she readies to knock again, she hears Zusa's dainty voice muffle through the wood.

"Come in." her voice chimes.

Diamond pushes open the door only enough for her to slip inside.

The room is only lit by the grand fireplace on the far back wall. It burns, casting a glossy look on all the silken fabrics on the couches. Diamond looks around and finds a weapon rack on the far left wall, next to a display case and bookshelf. Over on the right, she finds two large mahogany dressers and chests as well as another bookshelf with trinkets and odds and ends.

Tucked in the right corner is a gorgeously designed vanity with a gold outline done with the delicate design of feathers. There sits Zusa on a velvet red divan, combing through her black curly hair.

The curves of her body is accentuated from the silk red robs she wears. The neckline plunges down with black lace tracing along it, and there's a slit in the ankle long skirt that cuts its way up to her thigh. On her feet are high black heels. Her cheeks are smooth and round, as if Zusa has been carved from stone in the image of a goddess. Her eyes flick from her own reflection to Diamond's. When it does, Diamond feels her heart skip a beat.

Her emerald eyes still as piercing as ever, and Diamond can't get past the cold glare that's embedded within them. "Oh, Diamond." Her first word is quiet. "I didn't see you there. Please come in."

Zusa motions a dainty hand in an inward circle. As if drawn by the motion, or as if it's reeling her in like a fish caught on a line, Diamond takes careful steps closer, one foot in front of the other.

"Glad to see you're getting to know you're way around." Zusa continues, her tone louder this time. "I trust you're finding your stay, adequate?"

Zusa places the brush back on the vanity so softly Diamond can't even hear the small tap it makes as it hits the wood. Then again Diamond can't hear anything over the roar of blood on her ears. Her tongue is frozen and speech seems to be impossible. Diamond can't help but treat Zusa like a real snake, the venomous kind. She stands motionless, her eyes locked on her, considering plans of retreat.

"I was recently informed that you tried to escape the estate." Zusa continues. "You know, I'm trying to help you, Diamond. I show you what I have to offer in comparison to that poor excuse of a faction you call home. You're not someone who's easily swayed by luxury and glamorous things, I expected as much. But I assumed you would at least be _wise_."

Diamond's never seen Zusa like this. He's not a maniac anymore; she is perfectly controlled, perfectly poised. Careful and quiet.

For the first time, Diamond recognizes Zusa for what she is: a cold-hearted hunter disguised as a woman, a genius as well as a sadist, a hunter of beauty. She slowly turn to face Diamond.

Diamond wants to run.

"Are you unsatisfied with the life you have found here? Do you still hold loyalty to your faltering faction?" both of Zusa's perfectly shaped eyebrows lift, but no creases form into her forehead. "I would like to hear an explanation for why you betrayed the Faceless, yourself, and _me_ . . ." she taps her chest. ". . . by trying to venture off back into the wasteland that is Skyrim."

"I . . ." Diamond takes a deep breath. She feels her pulse in her throat. "I did not try to escape." She surprises herself when she answers in a steady tone.

The look Zusa gives her reminds her now of a wolf of the wilds of Skyrim – a viscous, predatory stare. Diamond feels her pulse in her throat. She wants to rip her to pieces. Diamond doesn't know whether to lie down in submission or become an attack wolf too.

Zusa would kill her if she knew what Diamond did, Diamond can feel it. Her hands curl into fists – she can see it even if they're folded neatly in her lap. Diamond is alone here; if something happens to her, no one will know and no one will see it.

Zusa's mouth pinches for a second, then her lips purse and she rises to stand. She side steps and motions towards the divan.

"Come and sit down, Diamond."

It's hard to breathe.

Once again, Diamond feels her legs guide her robotically guide her towards the vanity. The space closing up, Diamond swallows again to ensure she still has air flowing through her lungs. She sits down, fisting a bit of Malick's tunic in her hand. She can feel herself shaking as she lifts her arm slightly, then sets it back down, gripping the seat.

Zusa stands behind her, at first gazing at both of their reflections before reaching over Diamond's shoulder, the heat of her skin causes a shudder through Diamond's chest, and grabs the brush. She gingerly takes out the hairband holding Diamond's hair in a ponytail.

Diamond tries not to cringe at the thought of Zusa's black hair entangling with her sandy blonde, but she can't protest. Instead she sits proper, hands folded in her lap and takes a deep breath.

Without reason or explanation, Zusa begins to comb through Diamond's hair. She looks so calm and focused; and this adds to Diamond's hysteria. Diamond tries not to flinch every time Zusa's finger touches the small strands next to her ear, and when she gently rakes them across her scalp to hold down fly-aways.

Zusa then opens a drawer on the left and pulls out a small pair of scissors. Diamonds sits rigid as Zusa stands behind her with the scissors, trimming. The strands fall on the floor in a dull, blonde ring. When she's done, she rings her fingers through Diamond's hair again. Diamond wants to questions her, smack her hand away, but she doesn't. She can't. As far as she's concerned, her life is on the line.

"You have such beautiful hair, Diamond." Zusa finally comments. Diamond remains quiet, but not out of respect, but fear. Is this how Zusa keeps control on her members? Zusa tilts her head and smiles at Diamond. "Really why do you not take more care of it? The pink is such a harsh contrast to your eyes. With proper grooming you can steal any man you choose."

Diamond can't answer either question. Her stomach twinges.

"I'm going to ask you again." Zusa states, her voice growing louder, and Diamond notes the extra tug she adds as she brushes Diamond's hair. "Why did you try to sneak out?" her voice is like a razor's edge.

"I didn't." Diamond answers. "I was simply bored from being inside." Further, further. Lies require commitment "Sitting around all day drives me crazy. I wanted to get out. Stretch my legs." Diamond can feel her insides writhing within her.

"Diamond, you are not what I had hoped you'd be." Zusa deeply says.

Diamond's blood turns to ice.

The world becomes a whir of colors. There's a pain, a crackling. Diamond thinks it's her skull, because Zusa now has her hair locked in a vise-like grip. Her follicles screaming from the pull. There's the sound of crinkling glass.

Her eyes closed from the sudden whirl of motion, when she opens them, out of the corner of one eye, she sees red splattered across the shattered surface of Zusa's vanity mirror. The pain in Diamond's temple slowly rises and Diamond is forced to shut an eye as the gash sends a gush of blood running down her face, into her eye and filling her mouth with the sharp, metallic taste of her own blood.

Zusa's hand pushes Diamond's face harder into the glass. A piece of the mirror pokes at the soft surface of her bottom lip, then one small flick of Zusa's wrist and it's embedded in. Diamond screams into grit teeth.

"You're really not as smart as you look." Zusa coldly comments.

Hands gripping the border, Diamond tries to push off, but she's no match from Zusa's ungodly strength. Through her good eye, Diamond expects to see Zusa with a manic look in her eye, but she still sees that cold and calculating look in those green orbs of hers.

"You should know better than to lie to the leader of a faction, Diamond. Should know better than to hide and waste my time." Zusa hisses. "Those who betray me must be punished. Loyalty until death. Death to the disloyal."

In her head, Diamond hears Malick's voice echo in her head. "_It is Zusa __who might do something unfortunate should she fear you attempting to flee_."

"You have such beauty you don't realize, Diamond. You also don't realize how _easily_ I can take that all away." To reassure her point, Zusa bumps Diamond's head against the mirror again. Diamond can feel bits from above sprinkle down on her head.

Diamond's head is viscously jerked back off the mirror. She can hear bits of it scattering across the floor. Thankfully she has just enough reflexes to turn on her side, saving her head the initial impact that would've knocked her unconscious. Her head still bumps the ground, her one hand keeping her propped up. Spots of red splatter along the floor and disappears into the crimson carpet.

Before she has time to adjust, there's a hard kick to her stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs, and it hurts, hurts so badly Diamond can't breathe.

There's the clicking of Zusa's heels, and soon Diamond feels the pressure Zusa's foot on her hand. The heel of the shoe mimics that of a dagger as it presses into her knuckles. A scream of pain erupts from her mouth. A wail that curdles her own blood and makes her hair stand on end.

"Why do you persist on hurting me?" Zusa asks, the pain in her voice clearly masked by anger.

Her foot lifts and Diamond curls into herself, seething that pain and cradling her hand. Suddenly a hand grabs her shoulder and forces Diamond onto her back. Zusa is not on top of her, straddling her hips, pinning Diamond's hands above her head. In her one hand is a shiny glass dagger.

"I give you everything you could want. If it's not processional items, then I can give you wealth, power, that fear that true assassins deserve." Zusa says. She presses the tip of the dagger against Diamond's left, unscarred and not-bleeding eyebrow.

"You're cause may be true, but you're a lie!" Diamond final screams, using the pain as her fuel. "You think all your members are faithful, loyal to you?! They're not! They hate you! Fear you! You have no real power! Your fear will run out!"

She presses the dagger into Diamond's flesh. Blood trickles around Diamond's eye. She blinks against its sting.

With both eyes blind with crimson, Diamond suddenly feels Zusa ram her mouth into hers, drinking in her screams like it is a fine wine. The feel of the dagger shifts to Diamond's throat. Diamond feels Zusa's tongue break through her lips and wrestle with her own. Just as Diamond is about to bite on it, Zusa retracts and begins sucking on Diamond's tongue.

Diamond whimpers as Zusa licks along a clean sleek of skin on her neck. The dagger leaves her throat and the hand holding it now traveling along Diamond's torso. Diamond reflexively bends her legs as it cups one of her breasts and Zusa tickles her tongue along the clean spots of Diamond's collarbone.

Through the mixture of pain and pleasure, Diamond grits her teeth and keeps her hatred at the forefront of her mind. "I . . . am not, your . . . fucking plaything!" she hisses.

Then suddenly there's a stab in Diamond's left forearm. She tries to jerk away, but she's still too incapacitated. Zusa's digs the points of her knife into Diamond's flesh, twisting it around. There's an excruciating ripping sensation and warmth runs down Diamond wrist, filling her palm. Diamond's screams fill the room and she doesn't bother masking them, and neither does Zusa.

The pain is so strong, Diamond searches her brain for a way out.

Suddenly her lips are moving, words coming in through the screams.

"I wasn't alone!" Diamond wails. "I wasn't alone."

The dagger instantly retracts. Tears run from the corners of Diamond's eyes.

"What?" Zusa calmly asks.

"I wasn't alone. Someone helped me. They promised me escape." Diamond mumbles through the pain. Her words so slurred it sounds as if she's had too many bottles of ale.

All at once, Zusa's grip is gone as well as her weight on Diamond.

She hears the click of her heels move back towards the vanity.

"Hmm, that's all I needed from you." Zusa says.

From her position on the floor, Diamond can see Zusa stab the dagger, hilt up facing the ceiling and sit back down at the divan, as is nothing is the matter. If there was blood on her, the crimson colors of the nightgown didn't show it.

"Thank you for your time Diamond. You're dismissed." She says. Even with the broken mirror, she goes back to combing her hair with her brush.

Her entire hand, up to her wrists is coated in blood. Diamond feels ready to retch.

The door to Zusa's bedroom opens and a member comes in. Diamond can see it's the unknown member. She walks in and carefully kneels down in front of Diamond. She reaches out a hand, her fingers gently touching the flesh. Blood pools around the cloth around her fingers, yet not absorbed into it. She closes Diamond's eyes and Diamond can feel herself lifted from the floor. She feels the streams of blood as it rounds to her neck, then drips off.

Diamond feel ready to cry.

Zusa used her. She used Diamond for information, and Diamond gave it to her. Even with what little detail she has, it's enough that she will find out.

Diamond assumed one of the members betrayed her, but now she's now better as she's just done the same.

They leave Zusa's room. The new light of the halls can be seen through her eyelids and Diamond sees swirls of yellow in the darkness. Blood continues pouring down her face, her neck, and her slender body.

Malick's face emerges into her head. Even without the energy to sob, tears still stream down her cheeks. One crying tears, the other blood.

It's sort of funny, how little trust there is in a group that's supposed to have each other's backs. Here Diamond didn't think she could trust anyone on the thought of betrayal, and yet here she is a betrayer as she's just sent one of the members to their death.

The thought makes her want to laugh. And then scream.

There's no escape from what she's done. No reward. No pleasure.

As she's brought into a white room, Diamond could swear she hear Libby's voice.

So soft, dainty, and warm. "Diamond." It whispers.

Diamond can just picture her and Libby running through the mountains of Riverwood; fishing and laughing at how she so easily pickpocketed a priest.

The image is beautiful.

Diamond grasps for it with desperate fingers as she feels something poke her arm.

Warmth runs through her veins and the world fades to black.


	25. Chapter 25

When Diamond swims back to semiconsciouness, she can feel she's lying on a padded bed. The light permeates through the lids of Diamond's eyes. The only clothing she has are her undergarments. There's a pinching sensation of tubes in her left arm. She moans and tries to shift position, but her legs and arms don't move. Panic surges through Diamond, awakening her senses and causing her legs to at least twitch. She's largely unable to move, open her eyelids, raise her head. But her right arm has regained a little motion. It flops across her body, feeling like a flipper, no, something less animated, like a club.

Unaware if she's imagining it, Diamond could swear she hears a man's voice yelling. Rough cadences to it, and she can't help having a vague, comforting feeling that someone is looking out for her. Diamond has no real motor coordination, no proof that she even still has fingers. Yet she manages to swing her arm around until she rips out the tubes. A beeping sound goes off, but she can't stay awake to find out who it will summon.

The next time Diamond surfaces, her hands are tied down to the table, the tubes now in her right arm. Her left arm is bandaged but the tubes dangle off stands by the bed. She can open her eyes and move her head slightly, though. The entire white ceiling, glowing a soft yellow from a single Dwarven light fixture. Her bed is at the end of a row of three against the wall. Another three on the opposite side. A single window depicts the night stars and a full moon. The air smells of something sharp and antiseptic.

The physical confinement makes Diamond panic, and as she's trying to wriggle her wrists through the bands when the door opens and in walks the Unknown Faceless carrying a tray. The sight of her frightens Diamond, but the overwhelming sense of calm deteriorates her fear and she stops trying to escape. Diamond wants to ask her a million questions, but Diamond almost knows she won't answer any of them along with the fact that she can feel a boiling sense of anger within her stomach. Diamond debates on whether or not to speak as she unclips the restraints and sets the tray across Diamond's thighs.

She doesn't deserve the sudden anger that Diamond can feel within her, but since Zusa's attack, any member of her organization or even those that mention her Diamond sees as a threat. She fears she'll unrightfully attack the Unknown member when she's done nothing wrong. She may be part of the faction, but thinking back to Malick and his words, perhaps some of them don't have a choice in the matter. Veera certainly didn't.

The Unknown member presses something that raises Diamond's bed to a sitting position. While she adjusts Diamond's pillow, Diamond risks two questions. She says it loud, as clearly as her rusty voice will allow, so nothing seems secretive. "How long have I been out?"

The Unknown looks to her and holds up two fingers. Two days.

Two days. Diamond's gone over her agreement time with Zusa. She's free.

Freedom. The word alone fills Diamond with a cold excitement that pours through her veins.

Libby! She'll finally see her again! Libby and the outside in general. Even the thought of returning to the Sanctuary makes her smile. Soon she will be home!

Diamond wants to get out of the bed. To see Libby and Malick . . .

Malick.

Diamond feels a pinch of worry. She looks to the Unknown, who's now jotting down notes in a large leather book – and clears her throat. The Unknown looks over her shoulder, then after three seconds goes back to writing. Not long after she walks over and detaches the wires in Diamond's arm.

"Is Malick okay?" Diamond speaks. She turns and walks over to the end table next to Diamond's bed. She gives her a nod, and as she slips Diamond a spoon into her hand, Diamond feels the pressure of friendship.

As she leaves, she closes the door noiselessly behind her, and Diamond turns hungrily to the tray of food in front of her. A small serving of oatmeal, apple slices cut into cubes and a glass of water. _This is it_? Diamond thinks grouchily.

Tucking a strand of now silken hair behind her ear, she freezes when she sees her hand. Not only has it been scrubbed clean, but her nails are filed in perfect ovals. Diamond touches her cheeks, her lips – the jagged piece of glass removed and where she expects there to be a puckered scar, there is only smoothness. She moves to above her eyebrow where she feels for the gash and there's a thin lift of skin. Diamond had expected stitches, but then again, this is the Faceless. And even if they don't have a Babette, they've got technological advancements.

Finishing the meal, Diamond sets the tray aside and as she tosses the sheet aside, she's arrested by the sight of her hands. The skin's perfection, smooth and glowing. Not only are her scars gone, but those accumulated over the years with Libby have also vanished without a trace. Her forehead feels like satin, and when she tries to find the scar, there's nothing.

Diamond can't help but snarl. She knows Zusa's doing it just to show Diamond how generous she can be as well as ruthless. The mixture of kindness and cruelty ultimately is what probably wins her loyalty from others. Though some can be bought, those who can't ultimately end at the end of blade at best estimation.

Diamond slips her legs out of bed, nervous about how they'll bare her weight, and finds them strong and steady. Lying at the foot of the bed is an outfits that makes Diamond flinch. The purple and black wrappings she was granted, as well as the cape. Diamond stares at it as if it has teeth until she realizes that it's probably all she has to wear until she leaves. Or even until she dares show her face at the Sanctuary.

Zusa no doubt probably burned her Brotherhood uniform, and not thinking of a better punishment than to have Diamond return home in the ensemble of the enemy faction.

She pulls on the black shift dress and starts wrapping the black and purple cloth across her chest, pulling it tight to get much coverage as she can. She continues to do this until her entire body is mummified. If she walked through the streets in board daylight she' earn herself many scandalous looks as well as people sidestepping to get out of her way. Using the spares she has, Diamond pulls her hair tight and secures into a ponytail, coiling the cloth around her hair. The dressing taking a total of ten minutes.

Diamond wonders what Astrid will think is she sees her like this.

With no mirror to see how she looks, Diamond stands in front of the door and after a few deep breaths, opens it and steps into the wide, recognizable hallway of the mansion. The hallways seems deserted with no other doors on it. Disturbed, now conscious and moving, Diamond is growing more and more anxious to see Malick.

He must be all right or the Unknown member wouldn't have said so. But Diamond needs to see it for herself.

"Malick!" she calls out, since there's no one to ask. She hears her name in response, but it's not his voice. It's a voice that provokes irritation and then eagerness. Veera.

Diamond turns and sees her waiting in a big chamber at the end of the hall. It's just Veera. Diamond's feet take off without hesitation. Maybe she should show more restraint now that these people have now been declared her enemies, especially when she knows that one of them must've radded her out to Zusa, but Diamond doesn't care. She runs towards her and launches into Veera's arms. Veera hugs her back.

"Thank the gods you're okay." Veera mumbles into her shoulder.

Diamond hugs her tighter. Instantly she knows that the news has spread out through the organization. Zusa would spread news about this just to keep her initiates in line. Now Diamond will have to face all the other members. Though now she can't tell if she wants them to pity her or not. Then again they might avoid her in the sense that being in her mere presence will earn them a dagger in their chest from Zusa.

Though now all Diamond cares about is finding Malick. She needs to tell him. At first Diamond thought she'd be angry at him on going to Zusa about her escape, but now that she's, indirectly, told Zusa that he had helped her escape, she's just as at fault. Perhaps even more. Diamond shudders at the thought of Zusa doing worse to Malick.

Finally Diamond releases Veera. "Veera, I need to find Malick. Where is he? He is all right, isn't he? I mean, he's alive?" Diamond blurts.

"Easy, easy. Slow down." Veera says. "Malick's fine, but he's out on a mission. We'll have to talk to him later."

"Okay . . . wait, _we_?" Diamond quotes.

"Yes." Veer nods. She leans in for another hug, only when she puts her arms around Veera's neck, Diamond finds herself trapped in her embrace. She begins talking, very fast, very quietly in Diamond's ear, her hair concealing Veera's lips.

"Listen up. You're in trouble. Zusa's furious about you showing her up. The one thing she can't stand is being laughed at." says Veera. "It's no longer safe for you to stay here. If you do, she will kill you in ways the tributes will remember for decades to come."

Diamond feels dread coursing through her now, but she laughs as though Veera is saying something completely delightful because nothing is covering her mouth. "So what?"

"I want to help. Malick wants us to meet in your bed chambers tonight once everyone is either gone or asleep." Veera pulls back and tucks a few strands of hair behind Diamond's ear. "Got it, sweetie?" she could be talking about anything now.

"Got it." Diamond says.

"I . . ." Veera smiles like normal, tapping Diamond in the chest. "will see you tonight and we can finally catch up on that combat maneuver I've been showing you."

Diamond nods and Veera holds Diamond's hands before she trots out of the room with an extra swing in her walk. Diamond's relieved that the shadow cloak adorns her shoulders as it pools out from her feet, covering her knocking knees. Then she realizes it's pointless. Her whole body is quaking like a leaf. Hopefully it will be put down to excitement or determination. After all, she's escaping.

As she fists her cloak into her hands, Diamond leaves the room and continues down the hall; not caring where she's going, just wanting to get away. The air of the mansion threatens to choke her. A cold, clammy sweat breaks out on her skin and she can't rid herself of the feeling that the chandeliers above her head are about to collapse, to bury her alive under the ruble. When Zusa nearly claimed her life, when Diamond was on the verge of death, when she was done with her agreed time limit to live in the mansion, she was supposed to be safe. From then on. For the rest of her life. But what if Veera says is true, and she's got no reason to lie, Diamond has never been in such a dangerous place in her life.

It's so much worse than being hunted as an assassin. There, she could only die. End of story. But out here Libby, Veera, Malick, the members of the Brotherhood, everyone she cares about back home could be punished with the power of the Faceless' reputation in Skyrim.

Still, she has a chance. Funny, when she was trying to escape, she was only thinking about going home and outsmarting the Faceless, not how her actions could earn her and her friends a dagger to the throat. So now Zusa will act as if she's been in control the whole time. As if she orchestrated the whole even, right down to Diamond's attempt at escape. That shouldn't be too hard to believe. But half the members of her organization are rebelling already.

And Libby . . . Libby will suffer, too, if this goes wrong. Diamond can imagine Zusa being the kind of person to reach out to a whole other person just to get back at one of her own members. Much like other assassination groups, if a member is disloyal, the leader would reach out and threaten the lives of their loved ones – if they have any - and use them as leverage.

The thought strangely makes Diamond happy and terrible at the same time. At the thought that she has so many people she cares for, but at the same time she's filled with dread as she's just written their epitaphs.

As she pushes through a door, Diamond takes an inhale and smells something floral and sweet. Looking around, Diamond finds herself in a hallway made entirely of glass. Long and narrow, light floods through the walls. Diamond looks down and finds the floor still wooden, but the walls completely see through, but she's still trapped.

Squinting, Diamond can detect a curtain of green vines handing over the archway in a spilling cascade up ahead. Flowers dotted the vines, their heavy heads lolling sleepily amid waxy green foliage. She rubs her arms and heads to the doorway. Parting the vines with one hand, she passes through the archway and into a circular room. Countless crimson buds climb the iron-gate perimeters, their interlacing boughs and vines thick enough to form a living wall between the interior of the room and whatever lay without.

The vines and flowers commandeered the domed ceiling as well, though Diamond thought she could detect the mesh of tree limbs and the hint of blue light through one of the thinner sections.

Gazing upward, Diamond thought there must be thousands of the flowers, maybe even hundreds of thousands – every bud the same deep bloodred hue. Gilt details chased the curved wall and netted the dome ceiling far above. The whole room glistened and sparkled like the inside of a Faberge egg. In addition to the climbing roses, long-stemmed roses grew along the base of the trellised wall, their blooms blending in with all the others.

Their overpowering fragrance, like the smell from a shattered bottle of perfume, fills her nostrils with every breath, making her light-headed. A carpet of ruby petals covered the circular marble floor, while several open archways lined the curved wall, all of them leading out into what appeared to be rose-lined tunnels. She takes a step toward the center of the room, her sight set on one of the open archways.

She automatically heads down the long vine-covered corridor, over the footprints, choosing her next direction at random, no longer certain from which way she'd come. The roses seemed to watch her like thousands of spectators as she passed, their delicate heads bobbing in Diamond's wake. As Diamond takes one passageway after another, she couldn't help but feel that she was winding his way deeper and deeper into the garden's maze. The soles of her boots slap the marble floor, the sound muffled only slightly by the thin coating of petals that carpet each passageway.

Turning the corner, Diamond suddenly finds herself in another circular room identical to the first. Diamond observes her surroundings, feeling an urge to go left instead of right, and make the turn. She hastens toward the end of the covered hall, through the opening, and into the largest clearing yet. And here, in the center of the room, stand one thing that catches her attention. High above the brass statue's head and arcing veil, a blanket of roses twined with the decorative domed ceiling, their vines braided with the scrolling wrought-iron bars. A breeze entered the gaps between flowers and metal, sending a cascade of petals raining down.

Diamond finds a gazebo with bay windows sitting squat near a small firepit built into the marble and decides to sit down. The polyester covering offers the perfect shade solution while maintaining a clean and sophisticated look. The steel frame holds an intricate yet open pattern that compliments the overarching feel of the gazebo. The seats are soft so she sinks into the cushions, and the small banisters give her a false sense of security and privacy. Even if it's all an illusion, Diamond wraps herself more into her cloak. With her little knowledge of magic, Diamond whispers to the pit or black.

"_Nuruta_." And a purple fire erupts between them. It burns bright, then fades to the size of a man's head.

Diamond hugs her legs as she sits on the stool and stares at the pile of embers. Diamond rests her chin on her knees and tries to relay through the events that have happened within a matter of days. How could have gone so wrong so fast? And worst of all, her Brotherhood "family" don't even care that she's gone. Diamomnd can't help but laugh at the thought of the Emperor's assassination on hold for so long. Gabbi must be growing impatient.

Diamond can't help but let her anger at the Brotherhood. She's been gone for nearly a week, and Diamond was the main tribute to the mission. Surely Astrid would've noticed Diamond being gone. Gabbi would've said something to her, plus the contract has a time limit. The Emperor is only in Skyrim for a certain time. But she can't focus on that, her main ideal is to try and think of apologies to Malick.

Would he be mad? Understanding? With his attitude the ideas very. Would he be furious and kill her on the spot? Or deny everything?

No. No he seemed too determined to help Diamond. So bent on getting away from Zusa.

Diamond watches the shadows curl off the cloak as it smears into a single black blob. Watching the fire burn, Diamond closes her eyes and drifts off.

That night, Diamond paces her room anxiously as Veera sits atop her vanity sharpening her dagger. Diamond hasn't seen Malick all day and now her urgency grown into nervousness as she waits for him to walk through the door. She's paced up and down the carpet enough to start a small ware.

Veera had come in an hour before Malick was supposed to arrive and handed Diamond an extra enchanted dagger along with Dwarven warhammer. Diamond tossed it aside onto her bed, not willing to sling it on her back with all the weight of worry she has already.

"Ring the fricken bell!" Veera suddenly says. "If you keep pacing up and down like that, you'll wear through the floor."

Diamond doesn't have to attention to snap back. Instead, she goes and sits down on the bed and begins to chew on her wrapped finger. Veera crosses her legs and sighs.

Suddenly her door opens without a knock and Diamond freeze instantly. She looks up and watches as a purple wrapped foot steps inside, followed by the muscular wrapped torso of Malick.

He doesn't say a word, only shuts the door behind him. He then proceeds to unwrap his face from the purple, black and white. Diamond hitches a breath as his eyes blink before settling on her.

Diamond lowers her face and grips her hands together. "I'm sorry, Malick." She starts. "I told Zusa everything. She brought in for interrogation, and I gave away that you promised to help me escape. I'm so sorry."

Diamond doesn't dare lift her gaze, instead she keeps it to the floor and waits for Malick's entourage of insults and spits of betrayal. But there's only silence, which in of itself is even more excruciating. Diamond fists her hands, biting her lip trying not to cry as he takes her chin.

He lifts her gaze to face him. His eyes are gentle, serene. "I know." Is all he says.

She furrows her eyebrows in confusion.

"News around here spreads like wildfire." Malick explains.

Diamond hitches a breath in her throat, swallowing it down as she robotically nods her head.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about it, but now, I promise you, I will protect you." Malick promises.

Diamond stays silent, just like before, her tongue frozen and leaving her unable to speak. So she nods again.

"Okay!" Veera suddenly pipes up. "I'm off!"

Diamond looks to her desperately, pleading her not to go. But Veera only softly smiles and waves to her, and she simply opens the door and slips out. Leaving her alone with Malick, Diamond nervously fidgets as he gets up, adds more wood to the fire and then pulls over one of the armchairs to sit in front of Diamond.

He takes on of Diamond's hands, which is clutched in a fist, and massages it until it opens and blood begins to flow through her fingers again. The crackling of the fire is the only sound in the room, apart from the blood roaring in Diamond's ears. He's starting on the second fist when he decides to speak.

"The plan is simple." He says. "Veera's going to start a fire in a deeper part of the mansion to distract Eloira and Kiara. Ms. Lulu is out, don't know where except that she won't be back for another three hours. Once Veera alerts the others, we'll meet her in the foyer of the mansion and we escape together."

Diamond nods numbly. Continuously swallowing in an attempt to ease the clogged feeling in her throat, which feels like it's swelling shut.

"Of course it's all easier said than done. Zusa will be on high alert, and her suspicions will arise to paranoia once she sees you and Veera aren't responding. I've taken over one of Eloria's missions so everyone thinks I'm out at Solitude. Once everything's set, I need you focused and ready. Do you understand?"

Diamond nods.

"Say it." Malick forces her.

"I understand." Diamond's voice is ragged.

It's an awful lot to take in, this plan in which Diamond is strangely willing to participate in. Her heart thrums in her chest and Diamond finds herself inhaling deeper and deeper. Malick grips her shoulder and massages it briefly.

"We will protect you." he repeats.

A foolish boats, one Diamond has heard a thousand times. But looking at Malick, seeing his resolve and courage, Diamond knew without a doubt that she believes him.


	26. Chapter 26

Diamond slings the Dwarven warhammer over her back and adjusts the cloak. She half expects the weight to make the shifting of the cloak awkward, but instead, it feels as if there's nothing on her back at all, and shadows float off her still.

Hearing the sling of metal, Diamond looks over by the fireplace and sees Malick spinning a Faceless dagger between his fingers. It rolls smoothly, gracefully and he repeats the action, gazing at the fire lost in thought.

They've been waiting for at least ten minutes. Waiting for Veera's signal that the plan is in motion. Malick only told Diamond the basic structure of the plan, nothing really specific; in which can be both good and bad at the same time. This is serious, and Diamond can't afford to mess up now lives are on the line. Lives she's trying to preserve rather than kill.

Suddenly there's a pounding on Diamond's door, but no one calls from beyond it. It pounds, twice, three times, then six times. Malick instantly hurries over and hauls it open, but no one is outside. Malick looks left and right before motioning Diamond over. Diamond swallows, her heart suddenly tripling in speed.

"Okay, hurry we don't have much time. We have to run." He orders.

Without consent, or even realizing it, he takes Diamond's hand and they instantly take off down the hallway. Already Diamond can smell the smoke even though Malick said that the fire is supposed to be in the deeper recesses of the mansion. Perhaps Veer did her job too well.

Diamond is stumbling blindly after Malick as they barrel down the hallway with no thought of anything but to get out alive.

They make a beeline down the hall towards the archway that leads into the grand foyer of the mansion. Diamond knows that this'll be too easy, and if it is, that means there's worse waiting for them on the other side.

Suddenly Diamond can see the shadows of the hallway move and shift. Instantly she wants to stop, but with a harsh tug from Malick's hand, she's still running. She watches as he whips his hand down and in between his fingers are lethal looking-throwing daggers. With this one hand, he chucks them forward and instantly they land in the heads of what look to have been forming frost atronachs. Crumpling upon impact, an icy chill wafts over their feet as they pass, mist forming in the still heated hallways.

Diamond would've mentioned how they were probably created to stop the fire, but despite that Malick probably wants to prolong the fire as much as he can, Diamond realizes that he has gone rogue. Everything that moves is a target. He's shooting reflexively. Heart pounding, adrenaline burning through him, everyone is his enemy. Except Diamond. There's nothing to do but move forward, killing whoever comes into their path.

That's probably why he refuses to let her go. But even with the feeling in her fingers gone, and the steady growing tightening in her legs, Diamond is relieved. Losing Malick now, in this place it death itself.

The heat is horrible. Even with still no smoke in sight, the thickening air threatens to suffocate Diamond at any moment. They make a sudden jerk turn left and the heat gets stronger.

Malick backpedals and hunkers them both down underneath the stairwell. There's a long, low groan.

The entire upper level above them breaks and spills down burning bits of furniture, wood clothing, curtains and sparks. Burning floorboards crack from the mass and fall in showers of sparks in front of them. Malick instinctively jumps over Diamond who curls deep into herself. The heat is now suffocating and the embers scatter about onto the carpet, instantly starting up another flame. Muffled shouts come through the hole. In a matter of minutes, Diamond's throat and nose are burning.

Discomfort turns to distress until each breath sends a searing pain through Diamond's chest. She feels Malick's fingers fiddle with her cowl and he pulls up her mask. Grateful, Diamond finds it soaked with sweat already and it offers a thin veil of protection.

Malick pulls Diamond again, and as they start running again, Diamond can hear Malick curse at Veera under his breath.

Sprinting through the halls, Diamond trusts Malick with every turn they make. He's been here longer. He knows the halls.

As they run, Diamond takes in the massacre. The heat dwindles, but scorch marks dot along the walls and furniture, looking like the house has a case of ataxia. Diamond is surprised when she feels a spur of relief in her chest a she remembers that there are few members of the Faceless, there by relieving her of having to see dead bodies of members lining the halls.

The floor races by beneath Diamond's pounding feet, the thick air stinging his lungs. As she runs, Diamond feels her body enter that uncomfortable place of being warm on the inside but cold with sweat on the outside. She knew she'd pay later for not having warmed up or anything before launching straight into a full-out run.

Diamond looks down and finds Malick's free hand reach for his enchanted dagger, spinning it blade out and keeping it at his side. It's now that Diamond realizes how fast he is running. His body is level from his head to the end of his spinal cord. Perfectly straight, his feet are quick, patting the carpet in quick blurs. Diamond can just see that only his toes are tapping the carpet, his arms out straight at his sides and his head still. Diamond always knew the Faceless were incredibly fast, but watching his feet makes her dizzy.

She hears the pop of wood and the hiss of the embers. She looks over her shoudler, and despite the cascade of sudden noise, the rustling and crackling, she can't sense so much as the slightest movement in any direction.

Diamond feels her throat constrict and her chest tighten. Her heartbeat speeds to triple time. Her one palm, cold and sweaty, tightens around the straps of her dagger, and she feels the blade pound against her.

Out of the corner of one eye, she thinks he sees the edge of a dark something. Then there's another at her left. Figures, tall and long, rush through the black gate of the scaled walls on either side of them, their movements too fast. Impossibly fast.

As they speed up, so do the dappled forms.

They seem to multiply as, out of her periphery, she spots yet another. This one glides away from the others to rush along the group of trees directly beside them. It moves _along _the walls, through paintings, dashing over the remaining furniture – a rippling form.

Diamond tries to cry for help but can't find the breath, able to only choke out a low sob. She can't stop to scream, but she can't keep going like this, either. She can't breathe anymore. Her lungs sting from the cold while her sides ache with stiffening pain.

She can't outrun them. She can't gain even the slightest bit of distance, and already a stitch the size of a softball has begun to knot itself in her side. She blocks out the pain, pushing through. Run. Run. Run!

Up ahead Diamond can see a familiar doorway still in perfect condition and her excitement pushes her forward. Malick pushes through it, too harshly and the two tumble forward. Malick ready, rolls with the momentum and comes up on his feet. Diamond an only manage one knee.

As she tries to stand, her knees buckle and she nearly falls if not for Malick's protective arm. He pulls her arm across his shoulder and hauls Diamond to her feet.

"I just need to catch my breath." her voice is rustic.

Malick nods and removes his mask, inhaling deeply, coughing as he exhales.

In the grand foyer, Diamond slumps down against one of the six columns on either side of the room, bracing the upper level of the mansion. Then the vomiting begins. It's an acidic substance that scalds her throat and makes its way into her nose as well.

The grand staircase braces wide with the red runner carpet stretching up and further back into the home. Malick paces back and forth, his head turning left and right to scope out what Diamond can see as an empty room. But evidently, the Faceless' eyes are meant to see far better in the darkness.

"Where's Veera?" Diamond struggles to ask.

Malick doesn't answer. He keeps looking around.

Diamond is about to ask again, when she hears a thump from beyond the remnants of the foyer. Malick's hand flinches to his dagger. Diamond stands, readying her weapon as well.

Veera comes flying from the top of the stairs, her body a limp projectile until her back slams into the middle section of the stairs. Then does she follow the momentum and flips, landing shakily on her feet. One foot slides out from under her and she fumbles to her hands and knees. She instantly looks up to Malick and Diamond and Diamond's eyes sting with tears.

Veera has a split lip, a gash on her temple, causing blood to stream down her face and into one eye, a smeared bloody nose and a bruise already forming on her left cheek. Without her wrappings, her hair looks like a few chunks have been seared off from her fire. Her wrappings are burnt and a few have been eaten away by the flames.

Diamond can see her hand holding her dagger is covered in red welts, her clothes drenched in sweat. Diamond's stomach clenches at the sight of Veera's calf. The flesh is a brilliant red covered with blisters. The burned area is the size of Malick's hand. None of the skin is blackened. If it's bothering her, Veera is excellent at now showing it. She shoes no weakness.

Veera mouths something to Diamond and Malick, and even though Diamond can't understand it, she feels Malick nearly thrust her to the floor and behind the column. No farther back until they're against the wall.

Diamond crouches next to Malick and peers out. Veera spins out the Faceless dagger and an ebony short sword.

Diamond hears the whizzing before she sees the arrow. Veera instantly brings up her sword and the arrows ricochets off and sticks into the glass of the window.

"You shouldn't hide your mistakes, Veera. They will find you. _Burn_ you." Zusa's voice booms out across the foyer. Diamond instantly retracts behind Malick.

Diamond peeks back out and finds Zusa standing at the top of the stairs. She still wears her wrappings, only how they're under a dark black plate mail that glows a deep purple like the armor has absorbed the flames of the house and now pulsate with the beat of Zusa's heart. Still the armor fits her, as it accentuates her curves and elongates her torso. If she were fighting a man, they'd easily be too distracted by her to fight back. And Zusa can use that moment to strike a deathblow and end it.

Darkness creeps in around her, spreading its fingers through the banisters, working to smear the room into a single black blur. Zusa's cloak stretches back over the crimson rug, darkening its stretch behind her, black like a ribbon of ink. Her weapons hidden by waves of shadows that roll off her body like smoke from a fire.

"I expected better of you, Veera." Zusa snarks.

Veera merely answers with the spinning of her dagger and sword. She raises them above her head, poised and ready to strike.

"You showed great promise. I sheltered you, fed you, clothed you since you were a babe and still you insist on hurting me for the sake of apathetic girl who doesn't even care?" Zusa's words are steady, but Diamond can sense her anger boiling slowly beneath it.

"This isn't about Diamond so much as it is me. This is now personal." Veera hisses. "You took away someone I cared about. So now I'm returning the failure."

Zusa laughs. "You foolish child. There is no one in the world that I could care about."

"You may not care about _someone_. But you do care about _something_." Veera rephrases. "You're reputation."

At this, Zusa's face contorts into a vicious snarl and she pulls her cloak back to reveal her weapon.

A Daedric Sword.

Only seeing a handful in her lifetime, and that being on the belt of rich Jarls, Diamond is stunned and suddenly fearful for Veera as Zusa draws her blade.

Daedric swords are somewhat visually similar to scimitars. They have a curved handle and a serrated edge, with the exception that the Daedric sword has a much darker color, and contains sharper edges around the hilt. Slowly as she grabs it, the sword glows purple and black, a black flame permeating around the blade.

"I've always hated you. Ever since you killed my mother. Diamond was just the martyr I needed to finally face you for the whore you are!" Veera spites. "Once Diamond escapes, your reputation will debilitate. She will spread word of your abuse and falsehoods, and soon everyone will look to you as nothing more than a psychotic ruthless bitch! You're evil."

"Evil?" Zusa asks. "You parade around my home in wealth that could have fed you for years while on the arm of a man who never would've loved you as family. Like everyone never has. He soon would've rejected you just as your father did, you brat. But still you cling to him in hopes of receiving such love in return. It is not wishful thinking. It's desperation."

Diamond feels a weight drop in her stomach. _Clinging to the arm of a man_. Does she mean Malick? Who else? Diamond looks to Malick, and she's right. He stares at the two women, eyes alert and, hurt.

Could Zusa mean that, since the death of her mother and rejection of her father, that Veera had longed for the love of a man, whether as sibling or lover? Thinking back to their relationship, they teased and joked and argued like brother and sister, yet Malick still always kept Veera at a distance, but Veera seemed to understand and even accept it. And the way Malick looks now, he did care for her in a brotherly way. What Zusa is saying is not true.

Veera has to believe that. She has to.

Zusa is trying to get in her head. Make her unfocused, and Veera will pay dearly for it if she lets it get to her.

Veera clicks the blade of her weapons together and begins to weave back and forth.

Tensions coils within Diamond like someone is stirring her insides with a fork.

"You don't have to do this, Veera. Like I said you show great promise. Show me where she is, or you will die."

Veera's swaying stops, then she cocks her head. She seemed to be studying Zusa, staring into her heart.

"You will kill me anyway. The die is cast. So be it."

Zusa draws her blade, her cloak snapping erect and lashes out in a single smooth motion, the blade bathed in dark fire. Veera falls backwards, her spine arching and her knees bending. After the sword passes harmlessly above her, she snaps forward lunges with her blades, swinging them in a dance that is beautiful to behold. Zusa wields her sword with both hands, needing the grip on to hang on when Veera smacks it aside with her blades. One scrapes against Zusa's plate mail and catches in a crease while the other gouges the flesh underneath Zusa's chin.

Diamond hadn't seen Veera fight before and could tell she was well experienced; but compared to Zusa, Zusa is like a ghost. Nearly every swing Veera makes seems to cut air. Blood splatters across the wrappings on her chest. Her wrist has been cut, thought Diamond has no clue how. Veera steps back and thrusts. Zusa parries with her left hand, then steps forward and slashes Veera's right wrist. Desperate, Veera twists so the blow strikes the thin pauldron atop her shoulder. It did, and the pain is brutal, but the deep bruise is far better than the gash it would've given her neck.

Diamond thought she'd struggle with Zusa's heavy armor, but Veera's dagger cuts through the mail as if it is butter. The metal melts and smokes purple after each cut, helpless before a powerful magic.

Veera holds strong, flipping back and away, her body curling around sword strikes as if he bones are water. She swipes out Zusa's feet and rolls the opposite direction, spinning and leaping high she vanishes in a puff of smoke.

She suddenly leaps from behind Zusa, but despite the surprise, Zusa blocks it and hurls Veera further across the foyer, sending her crashing into the marble columns, a small crater crackling with fissures imprinting. Veera falls, but catches last minute, sloppily rolling to her hands and knees.

Diamond looks to Malick who remains intensely fixated on the battle. He grabs the hilt of his dagger and begins to rise. Diamond instantly grabs his wrist and pulls him down. He looks to her with absolute loathing. Diamond tries not to let it get to her.

"You can't go, Malick." She pleads. "You can't."

Veera retreats back, her shoulder aching, and she's avoided death twice by the sheer quickness of her feet. Breathing is getting difficult. Zusa, however, is still smiling despite the drops of blood.

The magic in both weapons collides, strength against strength. Sparks shower to the ground. Veera's dagger dulls. When she spins, thrusting it forward, Zusa twists so Veera stabs directly into her thick breastplate. The dagger explodes into shards that bite Veera's hand. blood soaks her wrappings.

"Are you ready?" Zusa asks hoping backwards and letting her cloak fall forward to hide her weapon.

"For what?" Veera asks.

"On the count of three, I kill you." Zusa says.

"Overconfident witch."

Zusa sways left and right, as if waiting. Veera lunges with greater reach of her sword, hoping to catch her off guard. Instead Zusa smoothly parries to the side.

"One." She says, stepping forward on her left foot.

Veera loops her sword above her head and strikes for Zusa's neck. The rogue steps forward again, locking with her daedric sword.

"Two."

Zusa's foot curls around Veera's. Their weight connects. Zusa lunges forward, slamming her elbow into Veera's face. The faceless member falls. A short sword stabs through the crease of her shift underneath her armpit and into her chest.

"Three."

"Not dead yet." Veera says, her voice sounding wet.

Zusa laughs.

"A worthy attitude." She says as she kicks the blade from Veera's hand. "Last chance to come back, or die."

Veera chuckles even as blood drips down her lips.

"I'd rather die on my feet, than live on my knees." she says. "The gods will abandon you."

"Don't you see?" Zusa says showing her the blaze of dark flame on her blade. "You're the one who abandoned."

Diamond suffocates Malick's hand on her own.

"Diamond, we need to move now!" He suddenly speaks. It startles Diamond despite it being in a whisper. With a lurch forward, they spring off towards the front door and crash through the glass, throwing stealth out the window.

Diamond looks back to watch Zusa raise her sword. With one vicious stroke she cuts off Veera's head. So hot is the flame one Zusa's sword that Veera's body never bleeds, the flesh and veins cauterized by its heat. Veera's body slumps to the side like a ragdoll.

Diamond clamps her hand over her mouth and looks away, screaming into her palm. Her cheeks are hot and eyes sting with tears she didn't feel beginning but none escape her eyes. Diamond's blood cries out that it belongs to her, and struggles to return to her, and she hears Veera's words in her mind as she runs, telling her to be brave.

She suddenly sees Veera smiling at her the first day. Showing Diamond around the mansion. Giggling and nudging her as she teases Diamond about her relationship with Malick.

A strong and beautiful young woman.

Gone.

Diamond looks to Malick as they sprint towards the woods. Diamond looks over her shoulder and finds the smoke coming from the house. The flames have chewed through nearly half the mansion.

"You mustn't stop." Malick insist as the two run on. "Zusa will follow. She will always follow."

Diamond nods. Her breathing has become ragged, and her left side aches as if a dagger is logged within. They're running west, away from the mansion and away from its walls. A few times they've shifted directions, but only to avoid the hills that surround the area.

"Where." Diamond says, feeling light-headed and unable to voice the rest of her question.

"The river is near." Malick says. "We will use that as we must."

Diamond does her best to keep up, but they had run for almost an hour after fleeing the mansion. She's never felt herself out of shape, but the exertion is beyond even her capabilities. She starts tumbling, dragging on only by Malick's firm grip on her wrist.

"Not far." Malick insists. "Hurry. Not far at all."

Despite her aching sides, and weak legs, and ragged breath, Diamond manage the final few minutes to its edge.

"You must get to the other side." Malick insists. "The river is wide, but not deep. Zusa will cross, slowly. The plate mail will hinder her."

"Please," Diamond says, falling to her knees. "Let me rest a moment."

"Rest on the other side." Malick says. "She may be here at any moment. Life or death, girl. Choose."

Diamond staggers to her feet and grabs Malick's shoulder.

"Life."

Without a word, Malick hoists her onto his back. "Hold tight."

With what little strength she has, Diamond wraps her legs and arms around Malick. The water comes up to their necks, and it is shockingly cold. Diamond's lips turn blue, and her teeth chatter. Malick hauls her along, though Diamond can no longer feel her arms and legs clutching to him. She dreads coming feel of open air, but a dim part of her is certain it'd still be water than the water.

A minute later they emerge on the other side.

Diamond takes a few steps before crumpling to her knees, doubling over with her arms crossing before her chest. She tries to speak, but her shivering is so severe she can't make words.

Malick kneels in front of Diamond. Shadows curl off his body, moving sluggishly as if they too are affected by the cold. Malick picks up Diamond once more and carries her to an outcropping of rocks and gently sets her down. In the cave, he digs his fingers into the dirt.

"_Lok_." He hisses. Purple fire erupts between them. it burns bright, then fades down to the size of a man's hand.

Malick looks back to the river. Diamond follows his gaze. She sees nothing in the dim starlight. She sniffs and wipes her cheek.

"Malick, I . . ." Diamond swallows. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen."

Malick stays silent.

"Malick, please know I didn't want this. I, I truly am sorry!"

Silence.

"Malick please! Speak to me! Say somthin-!"

Malick takes Diamond's face in his hands roughly and kisses her, the pressure of his lips pushing hers apart. Diamond feels aware of everything at once, of the pressure of his mouth and the taste of their kiss and the texture of his skin and the soft purple light glowing against her closed eyelids, and the smell of green things, growing things, in the air.

Diamond instantly forgets her pain and the terror of approaching death and for a moment, she is grateful that the memory of that kiss will be fresh in her mind as she meets her end.

When he pulls away, he opens his eyes, and Diamond can see everything about them, the dark of light blue in his left eye, the dark blue that makes her feel like she's safe inside it, like she is dreaming.

"For her to hide such beauty from the world, she is clearly a foolish, jealous bitch." Diamond's lips say without her consent.

"You are under my protection. And I will do whatever it takes to make you safe." He says.

"Malick . . ." Diamond whimpers.

He jerks his head to the side. "Zusa approaches." Diamond goes rigid as he looks back to her. "I can buy you some time, but you need to run."

Diamond's body goes numb. "Wait . . . you want me to just leave you here?!" she stutters.

"Yes." He turns to stand.

"No!" Diamond yelps, snatching his wrist. "No, Malick you can't leave me! You can't just-!"

"I will not let her hurt you!" Malick shouts back. He sighs and lowers his head. "I had a sister. Not even in her teen years yet. I was the big brother. It was my job to protect her."

Diamond swallows thickly and stares at him unblinking.

"We were raided, by bandits. They easily took me down and chained us both for a month. They forced me to watch them violate her again and again. She would cry, scream for help. And I couldn't do anything! And after I watched them slash her throat and cry and gag on her own blood, they made me clean up the body and forced me to tell them where my mother was."

Malick presses the heel of his palm to his forehead.

"The two most important women in my life and I failed to protect them. I was weak and in experienced, I know. But I should've done everything I could to keep her safe, even if it meant my own life." Malick continues. He turns to Diamond, eyes glossy with water. "I had failed them, and I refuse to fail any other woman in my life."

"Malick . . ."

There's the snap of a twig. Malick peers his head out and finds a dark figure standing a yard from their spot.

"She's here. Remember once I start, I need to run and _don't_ look back." he orders. "Don't look back."

"I can fight." Diamond mumbles.

"No! Just go!" Malick shouts, with such volume and authority that Diamond's voice cease. "Just fucking go."

Tears brim the edges of Diamond's eyes.

"Please, Diamond." Malick whispers. "Make this easy for me."

He kisses her again, softly, and then leaves the rock cave. Diamond sits in the shafts of moonlight until it disappears behind the clouds. She dares scoots out and glances out to find Malick standing and Zusa not far in front.

"You are determined, Zusa." Malick shouts. Zusa's armor is even darker than the night. She draws her sword and the black flame swells around it.

Malick crosses his daggers before his chest as Zusa takes a step closer. His daggers dripping shadows.

"I hoped you would submit. Veera is obviously dead." I cherish the honor of killing another heretic." Zusa spites.

If Malick is upset, he doesn't show it. Slowly he sways from side to side. While Zusa watches, Malick cuts just above his elbow and lets the blood drip down onto his cloak. Like a drop of dye into clear water, the red swirls and spreads across the dark cloth.

"Blood for blood." He growls. "I will bury you in my cloak."

Malick lunges, his cloak whipping around him like a funnel, its length suddenly twice that of his body. When Zusa swings, her sword clangs off as if she'd struck stone. A cloak of shadows follows him as he vaults high in the air. For a moment he soars as if on wings, and then curls his body downward, diving like a bird of prey.

The collision is brutal. Diamond gasps as shadows collide against shadows. A single harsh clang of steel rings in her ears.

Malick's foot snaps out, striking Zusa's head. She rolls with the blow, ending on her knees. She swings behind her, but Malick leaps over the blade and stabs his daggers for her neck. Zusa turns just in time, one dagger striking her chest plate, the other slashing her cheek. She rams her fist into Malick's gut, grinning in satisfaction at the gasping cry of pain he made.

Malick somersaults backwards, his cloak twirling before Zusa. She tries to push it aside, but she might as well have tried pushing down a tree with her bare hands. Blood runs down her face, a trickle curling in at the corner of her mouth. Zusa licks it and then spits.

"Fight me." She shouts as the cloak slowly drifts downward. She braces her sword, smoothly shifting between stances. Then he was there, ducking and spinning beyond her sword's edge. Normally Zusa would feel confident having such reach over her opponent's daggers. The length of her blade means nothing, however, if Malick could weave around it as if in a dance.

Malick spins in a circle about Zusa, his cloak stretching longer and longer. Malick jumps into the air, his cloak snapping behind him. Realizing she is surrounded, and soon to be crushed, Zusa pours every bit of her power into an overhand chop. A horrific screech sounds as her blade hits the cloak. The dark-purple cloth shakes, cracks, and then breaks like shattered steel. All around her the purple material crumples to the dirt.

Feet slam into Zusa's back. The remnants of Malick's cloak wrap around Zusa's head. The blow jerks Zusa's body forward, but her head could not move. Pain floods her mind as her neck wrenches awkwardly. Knowing his daggers will soon follow, Zusa falls limp, her sword swinging above her shoulder. The cloak vanishes as Malick retreats.

Zusa spins on her knees, her weight resting on one hand as she gasps for air. Her fight with Veera has already drained her, and Malick is proving no easier.

"A shame," Zusa says, hoping to buy some time. "You could do great things with such skill."

Malick begins swaying from side to side, his tattered cloak only hanging on to his waist.

Zusa stands and grips her sword. The black flame roars higher. She could kill Malick. Of that neither had any doubts.

Except Diamond. Based on her observation, Malick can take her on.

"You're nothing but an ungrateful bastard!" she shouts. "I taught you everything you know! What could you possibly hold to hope to defeat me?!" she asks as she steps back, her left arm completely wreathed with purple flame.

Malick lunges, trusting his speed. Zusa parries his first two thrusts and counters the third. When Malick spins about trying to get closer, Zusa opens the palm of her burning hand. Fire explodes as if from the mouth of a dragon. The fire swarms over Malick's cloak, setting it aflame.

Malick wastes no time, jumping backwards and slicing off his cloak where it attaches to the clasps atop his shoulders. But Zusa didn't give chase as Diamond expected. Instead she stabs her sword into the flame, turns it once, and then swings. A massive arc of fire lashes outward, catching Malick across his chest. All about, trees and bushes burn and animals die as the fire consumes them with frightening speed.

Faring little better, Malick drops to a roll. The dirt does little to stop the burning. Zusa rushes after, and when Malick rolls underneath a log, Zusa punches it with her fist. The fire leaves her arm and sets the log aflame. An upward swipe of her sword cuts the rest of it in half. Malick is underneath, gasping for air and clutching his horribly burned chest. The wrappings are gone, revealing blistered skin blackened by the heat.

Zusa reaches down and lifts Malick, grabbing him by the neck and crushing his throat. Zusa let her full power roll forth.

Diamond and Malick both go rigid.

The wrappings around his face are blasted off, revealing his beautiful face locked in a grimace of pain. Blood spills over his hand and the color drains from his face. Ash billows from his nostrils and open mouth. Malick's entire weight hands from the fierce grip of her hand.

"Chaos . . . must . . . end!" screams Zusa.

She slams Malick headfirst to the dirt.

Diamond claps he hand over her mouth to keep from screaming for Malick.

As he gags, trying to force air through his charred throat, the dark mistress picks up her sword.

Malick and Diamond's eyes meet like the yards between them are nothing.

Diamond's eyes burn and she is too weak to rise; the scent of sweat and blood makes her feel sick. She wants to rest her head on the ground and let that be the end of it. She wants to sleep now and never wake up.

But Malick didn't go to all that trouble for nothing.

Somehow, she gets up and starts running.

Diamond turns back and watches as Zusa presses the sword to Malick's throat, then traces it down to his chest. He clenches his teeth and seethes from the pain. Her sword held in both hands, the tip touches his chest.

Malick laughs even though the movement obviously pains him.

"Diamond is gone you whore. You'll never see her again."

Diamond watches as Zusa aims the tip at Malick's head.

She turns and shuts her eyes. Tears stream freely and Diamond doesn't hold back the inhuman scream that erupts from her lips. In the wailing is the pain as images of Veera's death collies with Malick's.

As she keeps running, all she hears is Malick's blood-curdling scream. It nauseates her to the core.

Diamond keeps running and doesn't look back.


End file.
